A Scottish company founded by Scotland rugby star Bill Gammell, which floated on the UK stock market nearly four decades ago, is this week at the centre of yet more takeover drama.
Unfortunately, from the perspective of those who would like to see as many publicly quoted Scottish companies as possible, this Edinburgh-based group still looks set to be taken over.
However, the bidder in pole position has changed in recent days.
The number of suitors to have focused in recent times on oil and gas company Capricorn Energy, previously known as Cairn Energy and founded by former Scotland rugby international winger Sir Bill Gammell, has been somewhat remarkable.
And, even before all this drama, the Edinburgh-based company’s story was a captivating one.
By the time I first spoke to Bill Gammell, in early 1995, there had already been many ups and downs in the Cairn Energy story.
At that point, Bangladesh was a key focus.
And the Cairn Energy founder, who worked on the oil rigs as a student and attended Fettes College in Edinburgh with at that stage soon-to-be prime minister Tony Blair, was clearly excited about the potential in Bangladesh as I interviewed him in the company’s then head office in Castle Street.
Cairn Energy had the previous year become the first Western company to sign a production-sharing contract in Bangladesh, relating to an area the size of 40 North Sea blocks.
The company enjoyed good times in Bangladesh, then a more difficult period in the country, before exiting.
Cairn Energy then enjoyed great success in India, specifically in Rajasthan. It spun off the Indian business, then sold a majority stake in this to mining giant Vedanta.
Next up was some frontier exploration in Greenland, which proved to be an expensive venture.
After that came a focus on the UK North Sea and Norway for a while.
Then it was on to the Western Desert of Egypt, with an acquisition of assets in 2021.
On December 13, 2021 came the name change to Capricorn Energy.
The business was of course by that time a very different one to that founded by Sir Bill, who retired from the Cairn Energy board in 2014.
However, the company has continued to be based in Edinburgh.
Capricorn Energy has a portfolio of onshore development and production assets in Egypt's Western Desert.
In May 2025, it agreed with the state-owned Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) to consolidate eight of its 50:50 jointly owned concessions into a single, integrated licence with enhanced commercial terms, a move the Scottish company has characterised as “providing a platform for future growth”.
On March 30 this year, Capricorn Energy announced that Egypt’s House of Representatives had ratified this agreement.
It has for some years looked likely that the business, a real stalwart of the Scottish corporate scene with its London Stock Exchange listing, would be taken over or be the subject of a merger which would effectively see the end of its long-held independence.
Planned deals came and went, however, without coming to fruition.
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On June 1, 2022, Capricorn Energy announced it had agreed an all-share “merger of equals” with Tullow Oil, under which the headquarters of the combined group would have been in London.
This proposed deal was aimed at creating “a leading African energy company, listed in London”.
However, this proposed transaction ran into shareholder opposition and was never consummated.
Then, in September that year, Capricorn Energy instead entered into an agreement with NewMed Energy of Israel for an “all-share business combination”.
That deal never came to pass either, following a shareholder revolt.
So that was that for a while.
Then, this year, the takeover action around Capricorn Energy returned in a dramatic way.
In March, Capricorn Energy revealed that Saudi Arabian investment vehicle Alamadiyaf al-Masiyyah had made multiple, unsolicited, non-binding, all-cash takeover proposals and granted this suitor access to its books to conduct due diligence.
The UK Takeover Panel then granted multiple extensions to the put up or shut up (PUSU) deadline for this Saudi Arabian suitor.
Then, on July 2, there was another twist in the tale when Capricorn Energy announced it had agreed to be taken over by London-based Genel Energy by means of a Scottish scheme of arrangement.
That deal, at the time it was announced, valued Capricorn Energy at $360 million.
At the time, Capricorn Energy chief executive Randy Neely said: “Since my appointment three years ago, the team has delivered strongly against our strategic priorities - returning approximately $600 million to shareholders, reducing costs, and maximising value from our Egyptian asset base through the recently signed merged concession, establishing a sustainable long-term business.
“However, Capricorn requires greater scale to materially improve trading liquidity. We believe the transaction with Genel crystallises the value created by Capricorn while providing shareholders with a clear and efficient exit.”
This proposed deal had been steadily advancing.
However, given the many turns of events we have seen at the Scottish company over the decades, we should perhaps not have been surprised that a takeover by Genel was not going to be a foregone conclusion.
And so it has turned out.
Capricorn Energy revealed on Tuesday it had agreed to a takeover by Norwegian oil company DNO. To add to the drama, DNO last month launched an unsolicited bid for Genel, which was rejected by the London-based company’s board.
It is a story of which the writers of hit 1980s television series Dallas would probably be impressed.
The DNO offer values Capricorn at around $396m, equivalent to £292m at exchange rates prevailing at the time of the announcement.
Genel declared in the wake of the announcement by Capricorn and DNO of their deal, which is now being recommended by the board of the Edinburgh-based company, that it was considering its position.
In spite of the many twists and turns, it is difficult as things stand to see an outcome other than a takeover of Capricorn Energy.
The Capricorn Energy and DNO announcement of their planned deal this week stated that DNO “expects that Capricorn’s corporate support functions based in the Edinburgh office will be organisationally integrated with the corresponding corporate functions of the DNO Group” in the wake of the takeover becoming effective, assuming that happens.
It did add: “Save as set out above, DNO does not intend to make any material change to the balance of skills and functions of the management and employees of the Capricorn group or to the conditions of employment of employees who will be retained in the business.”
However, the Capricorn Energy and DNO announcement also stated: “DNO intends to maintain a presence in Edinburgh, together with the resources necessary to support an orderly transition, for a period to be determined during the post-completion review. Thereafter, subject to the outcomes of the post-completion review, DNO will consider whether certain roles would be more effectively carried out from Cairo, or from one of DNO’s existing offices in Oslo or Dubai and a rationalisation of Capricorn’s business may occur.
“This may result in the closure of Capricorn’s head, administrative, offices in Edinburgh, subject to information and consultation with affected employees in accordance with applicable laws.”
It will certainly be a pity, from a Scottish perspective, to see a company with such a rich history, firmly rooted in Edinburgh for so long, lose its independence.
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