OIL

Nautronix finds Scottish white knight

Mark Patterson's time as a Nautronix director of operations in the North Sea seems to have paid o...

No doubt, if the bid succeeds, Mr Patterson will become CEO of Nautronix.

Scotland's First Tech, which is owned by oil entrepreneur, Mr Ian Suttie, has made a 67c per share or $45.49 million tilt at Nautronix. Nautronix directors originally advised shareholders to accept Odim Hitec's original offer of 65 cents per share in the absence of a higher bid but have reversed their decision.

They recommend shareholders reject the bid unless the Norwegian group satisfies the outstanding conditions or extends the offer.

Both bids face a more than cursory examination from the Foreign Investment Review Board because Nautronix's is a supplier to the Royal Australian Navy.

Nautronix has forecast a net profit of $5.1 million for 2001-02 despite posting a loss of $52,000 last financial year. At the time of writing, Nautronix shares gained four cents to 65 cents.

Mr Ian Suttie is a well-known North Sea oil entrepreneur and one of Scotland's richest individuals. This year he sold his majority owned oilfield services company, Orwell Group, for $278 million and remains chairman and controlling shareholder of First Oil.

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