Suncor wins over majority of Canadian Oil Sands shareholders

CALGARY, Alberta (Bloomberg) -- Suncor Energy Ltd. said Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. shareholders holding more than two-thirds of the stock tendered their shares in a takeover that will make the biggest oil-sands producer also the largest owner of the Syncrude project in norther Alberta.

A total of 72.9% of shares were tendered, and the offer will be extended to Feb. 22 to allow those who didn’t have enough time to do so, Suncor said in a statement after the offer expired Friday.

Suncor succeeded in winning over resistant Canadian Oil Sands management and shareholders after sweetening the offer last month following a war of words between the companies over the fate of the Syncrude stake. Suncor made two offers before making a hostile bid in October and finally secured Canadian Oil Sands management’s green light for the takeover in January.

“We’re pleased with the strong level of support from COS shareholders,” CEO Steve Williams said in Friday’s statement.

Oil’s crash has weighed on shareholders since the hostile bid was first announced on Oct. 5 and West Texas Intermediate was trading around $45/bbl. The U.S. benchmark has since tumbled and sank below $30 for the first time in 12 years on Jan. 12.