Chairman of MEG Energy Corp. suspended the shareholders meeting on the takeover proposal of Cenovus Energy Inc. to resolve an unspecified regulatory issue.
The meeting was scheduled for 9am local time on Thursday but will now resume at 2pm.
“My role as chairman this morning is a little more complicated,” James McFarland said at the meeting, which was held in person and via webcast.
“I have decided to adjourn the meeting… to give us time to respond to a regulatory request that came in late yesterday evening.”
McFarland did not specify the nature of the investigation.
It is the latest twist in a bitter, months-long takeover battle that has pitted oil sands giant Cenovus against smaller rival Strathcona Resources Ltd.
Strathcona abandoned its share offer earlier this month and on Monday said it would vote its 14% stake in MEG in favor of Cenovus' watered-down offer.
Cenovus and MEG own adjacent oil sands properties at Lake Christina, south of Fort McMurray, Alta., and Strathcona also has steam operations in the region.
The soft offer, half cash and half stock, is worth $30 a share, based on Cenovus's closing stock price on Friday. He previously offered $29.50 in cash or 1,240 Cenovus shares, which was worth $29.65 as of Friday.
The saga began in April when Strathcona approached MEG's board with a cash-and-share takeover offer. Strathcona was rejected and a few weeks later sent the offer directly to MEG shareholders.
In June, MEG's board of directors called the offer “opportunistic” and called on shareholders to reject it while launching a review to find a better offer. Strathcona executive chairman Adam Waterous accused MEG of refusing to participate and of taking the position of “anyone but Strathcona”.
In August, MEG announced that its board of directors had accepted Cenovus's first friendly takeover bid. The following month, Strathcona changed its offer to be entirely share-based, arguing that the structure would give investors greater opportunity to benefit from future growth.
Cenovus raised its price and offered a larger stake in early October, and the companies agreed to allow Cenovus to buy up to 9.9% of the target company's shares before a shareholder vote.
Days later, Strathcona abandoned its bid, saying the terms of its offer could no longer be met, while some MEG shareholders condemned what they saw as unfair tactics in securing the deal with Cenovus. Some have written to the Alberta Securities Commission asking for an investigation.
