The bidding contest for Pharos Energy's Southeast Asian and North African oil portfolio has a clearer frontrunner. Ratio Petroleum Energy raised its offer and locked in irrevocable undertakings from holders of 41.76% of Pharos' share capital, and now Serica Energy has said its own 32.6683 pence-per-share offer is final. The claim is that Serica held its price out of M&A discipline. The risk is that Ratio built its position before Serica even made the call.
Serica entered the contest on July 26 with a recommended cash acquisition at 32.6683 pence per share total, comprising 28.6683 pence in cash and a 4-pence special dividend. That topped an earlier Ratio proposal under which eligible Pharos shareholders stood to receive up to 28 pence per share. When Ratio raised its bid on August 7, Serica declined to follow, describing the current terms as reflecting a disciplined approach to M&A. Under UK takeover rules, declaring a bid final forecloses almost all revision. Serica can only revisit the price if a third-party bidder emerges, or with UK Takeover Panel consent in exceptional circumstances.
The Pharos asset explains why two bidders wanted it. The company operates producing oil fields in Vietnam and Egypt, with combined working-interest production of about 5,650 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first half of 2026. Vietnam generated 4,583 boepd from the Te Giac Trang and Ca Ngu Vang fields in the Cuu Long Basin. Egypt contributed 1,067 barrels per day from the El Fayum and North Beni Suef concessions. As of July, five of six wells in a Vietnamese drilling campaign were completed and producing, and drilling had resumed in Egypt. Pharos posted $82 million in first-half revenue and held $45.2 million in cash at the end of June.
For Serica, the read-through is geographic. Its existing portfolio is concentrated in the UK North Sea. Pharos would have broadened that to include producing exposure in Southeast Asia and North Africa. Serica said Monday it continues to evaluate other opportunities in the North Sea and elsewhere.
The counterargument
The strongest objection to treating this as a clean Ratio win is that 41.76% in irrevocables, while a substantial bloc, does not guarantee the raised offer clears the remaining free-float on acceptable terms. The revised Ratio bid's specific terms were not disclosed in Serica's announcement. If free-float holders prove reluctant, the picture shifts. The line to watch is whether any third-party bidder appears, since that is the only mechanism by which Serica could legally re-enter the contest.
On balance, the bid contest is over for Serica. Ratio is the only live offer in a field that once had two.