Pharos pulls out of possible Shell Egypt acquisition

Pharos Energy updated the market on the potential acquisition of Shell’s portfolio in Egypt’s Western Desert on Tuesday, reporting that it no longer had any intent to go ahead with a transaction.

The London-listed firm had said on 6 March that it was in the preliminary stages of evaluating the acquisition, as part of a consortium, of Shell Egypt’s upstream portfolio in the Western Desert.

On Tuesday, it said its board evaluated merger and acquisition opportunities with reference to strict strategic, financial and operational criteria.

“In light of current market conditions, the board of Pharos has determined that an acquisition of the Western Desert Assets is unlikely to be in shareholders' best interests and has accordingly decided to withdraw from the consortium that is evaluating that opportunity,” it said in its statement.

“The board remains committed to its strategy of delivering sustainable long-term growth, and our strategic ambition is to deliver value for all our stakeholders through the responsible management of our current portfolio and the careful selection of growth opportunities.”

At 1546 BST, shares in Pharos Energy were down 4.13% at 14.38p.