In this October 25, 2009 file photo, workers leave the Suncor oil sands extraction facility near the town of Fort McMurray in Alberta .MARK RALSTON/AFP / Getty Images
Suncor Energy Inc. has extended its hostile $4.3-billion takeover bid for Canadian Oil Sands Ltd., giving new hope to investors holding out for a richer offer.
Suncor said the all-stock bid for Canadian Oil Sands, its partner in the Syncrude Canada Ltd. joint venture, now expires on Jan. 8. It had previously been slated to expire on Friday.
The extension follows a ruling by the Alberta Securities Commission that gave Canadian Oil Sands until Jan. 4 to look for higher offers under its shareholder rights plan.
Some investors and analysts had predicted Suncor would push back its deadline, given the time and resources it has already poured into wooing Canadian Oil Sands shareholders. It had tried a friendly approach earlier this year but was rebuffed.
"The pressure is clearly on COS' board and management to prove they are acting in someone's interest other than their own," Suncor's chief executive Steve Williams said in a statement. "The Alberta Securities Commission decision allows COS more time to surface a superior offer from a credible third party, something most analysts see as unlikely."
In a statement, Canadian Oil Sands urged shareholders to take no action, saying the offer "is substantially undervalued and opportunistic."
Jeffrey Jones