M&A WATCH- Energean wants Edison to revalue its portfolio post-covid, slowing down its acquisition of assets in Egypt and beyond: Greece’s Energean has asked Edison to reassess the valuation of its oil and gas portfolio before moving ahead with a planned acquisition, Youm7 reports, citing an unnamed industry source. The Greek company wants Edison to account for the covid-19 pandemic and the nosedive in global oil prices in the final agreement pricing, according to the source. The process has pushed back the timeline for the two companies to close the acquisition, which was supposed to have happened by the end of 2019.

Background: Energean had been looking to buy Edison’s entire oil and gas portfolio for an initial USD 750 mn, with a further USD 100 mn due after gas production from the offshore Italian Cassiopeia field begins, which is expected to happen in 2022. The Oil Ministry had approved last year Energean’s purchase of Edison’s Egypt oil and gas assets — which make up 24% of the company’s portfolio — and include three producing concessions and six exploration concessions. Of the production assets, it owns a 100% stake in Abu Qir, a 60% stake in West Wadi El Rayan, and a 20% stake in Rosetta. It also has a 100% stake in three exploration assets, and shares ownership of the remaining three with state-owned companies EGAS and EGPC.