Heritage and Enerji in US$5.5bn deal

Genel Enerji, a Turkish firm exporting crude from Iraqi Kurdistan, has agreed to merge with Canada’s Heritage Oil in a strategic deal aimed at accelerating the development of billions of barrels of oil from discoveries in northern Iraq and Uganda.

If approved by a majority of Heritage’s shareholders, the stock transaction would create a combined company, HeritaGE, worth about US$5.5billion, with substantial cash flow from which to fund development, according to Paul Atherton, the chief financial officer of Heritage.

“We see this as an opportunity whereby we can build a new regional giant,” he said.