M&A

22 November, 2009

Heritage, Eni close to $1.5 bln Uganda deal-source

* In talks to sell interest for between $1.3-1.5 bln-source

* Talks continuing, deal could be announced on Monday-source

* Heritage looking to pay a special dividend-report

By Quentin Webb and Julie Crust

LONDON, Nov 22 (Reuters) - British oil explorer Heritage Oil (HOIL.L) (HOC.TO) is in talks to sell its Ugandan assets to Italian oil group Eni SpA (ENI.MI) for between $1.3-1.5 billion, a person familiar with the matter said on Sunday

Talks are continuing and a deal could be announced as early as Monday, the person said. Heritage is examining paying a special dividend to return some of the proceeds to shareholders, the person added.

The Sunday Times reported that Heritage will pay a special dividend of 90 pence to 100 pence per share, citing no sources.

Heritage Chief Executive Tony Buckingham, who previously ran companies which hired out mercenaries in Africa, could get about 84 million pounds ($126 million) from his 33 percent stake in the company, the paper said.

Heritage, which is in talks with Turkey's Genel Energy regarding a proposed $6 billion merger, is the operator and holds a 50 percent interest in two licences in Uganda. The fields are estimated to contain more than 700 million barrels of gross resources.

Tullow Oil (TLW.L) holds the remainder of the two licences located in the Albert Basin, close to the Democratic Republic of Congo, and is looking to sell up to 50 percent of its stake.

A spokeswoman for Eni declined to comment, while Heritage could not be reached.

On Tuesday, Heritage said merger talks with Genel were ongoing and that it hoped to reach a formal agreement before the end of the year. [ID:nL0122820]

It also said it was planning for early commercialisation of the Ugandan oil resources, with potential first production in 2011. (Editing by Jon Loades-Carter) ($1=.6645 Pound) ((julie.crust@thomsonreuters.com; +44 207 542 3847))

Source: http://www.reuters.com