STAM, which holds just under 5% of the beleaguered company after buying up shares since last year, prides itself on buying old junk but selling antiques.
The Sydney investment company's actual pig-dog Latin motto is: Emptis Purgamentis, Vendimus Antiquaria; purgamentis is a plural of pergamenum and more typically means dirt, trash or sweepings than ‘old junk' although at this point shareholders probably don't care.
FAR believes it undervalues the company and one of its largest shareholders agrees given it is still to receive up to US$55 million from oil sales from the Senegal development it was forced to offload to Woodside Petroleum at fire sale rates after it missed cash calls last year.
The company's share price rose from 37.5c late January to over 62c last week.
The 45c per share offered is not enough for major shareholder Meridian Capital Investment Fund, which has previously said it would refuse the offer.
Until December the stock had been worth around 70c per share, but that halved in same-day trade after its Bambo-1 wildcat offshore The Gambia came up dry.
Meridian, which holds 19.28% of FAR, wants to see the oil money returned to shareholders, some of whom must be more underwater than any Senegal well, on a pro-rata basis.
Meridian suggests these rights could be "traded directly or indirectly on a listed/tradeable exchange".
"Any similar arrangement approved by shareholders would help preserve the value... for existing shareholders on the relevant record date. All other assets including FAR's cash and oil and gas interests would remain within FAR," Meridian said last week.
Under Meridian's plan, FAR would hang onto the cash it has in the bank, which is over $55 million, and its offshore West Africa and Western Australia assets.
FAR, whose revivified board now comprises three, after long time directors including ex-Beach Energy head and Vintage founder Reg Nelson left, is "investigating" holding a shareholder meeting to ascertain if they'd like that oil cash, set to be flowing from next year.
It will let them know once its investigation finishes. The company recently slashed corporate costs, it said in its last quarterly, but still spent some A$800,000 in the three months to December.
The offer needs 50.1% to get over the line and has a March 14 cut off date.
After a 100-for-one consolidation last year the share price was worth $1.10; it later returned 80c per share from its Woodside cash to shareholders.
It has appointed RFC Ambrian as corporate advisers and Baker McKenzie as legal advisers.
This is the third takeover offer after Russia's Lukoil had a brief look and an outfit no one had ever heard of made then pulled an offer after it was revealed it had never actually been authorised by the board to do so, and was suspended in any case.
FAR's share price is 64.5c today, suggesting the market isn't taking the ‘junk' buyers too seriously.
