The drawn out bidding war for Novus took a final dramatic turn earlier this month when rival Sunov Petroleum announced that it would not increase its earlier $1.85 per share bid, after Medco posted a $1.90 per share counter offer.

The Independent directors of Novus had already endorsed the increased Medco offer to the company's shareholders and reiterated their recommendation in the absence of a superior offer.

"Our offer has been in the market for a number of months now and no other bid, other than Sunov's abandoned offer, has emerged for Novus despite the efforts of the Novus Board over that period," said Medco Energi chief executive officer Hilmi Panigoro.

In a side deal, Santos Ltd said it would take over Novus’ Indonesian assets from Medco if that bid was successful.