Energy Takeovers to Accelerate as Value Gap Narrows, UBS Says

Acquisitions of energy producers will accelerate late this year and early next year as suitors and cash strapped sellers both give ground on price expectations after a collapse in natural gas markets, UBS AG said. The dealmaking will probably begin as gas producers sell assets to raise cash, said Stephen Trauber, UBS’s global energy chief. Corporate takeovers will then pick up as executives weigh the shareholder value merits of selling equity at a discount to bring in more cash versus selling their companies outright at a premium. “Major oil companies have been waiting with the expectation that gas prices in particular, which is what many North American companies are based on, will continue to weaken.....Complete Story