Glencore to buy Chad oil firm Caracal for $1.3bn

Mining company Glencore Xstrata has agreed to buy Chad-focused oil company Caracal Energy for about £800 million a deal that will allow the commodity giant to expand upstream in the oil sector.

The sale puts an end to Caracal's proposed merger with Canada's TransGlobe Energy Corporation.

Glencore agreed to pay 550 pence per share for Caracal, which has been its partner in Chad since 2012, the two companies said in a joint statement put out by Glencore yesterday.

The price represents a 61 per cent premium to Caracal’s closing share price on Friday.

Caracal said it had terminated the proposed merger with TransGlobe and had paid a break-fee of $9.25 million to the Canadian company for abandoning the deal, the statement said. – ( Reuters )