Tullow Oil and Heritage are partners and each own 50% in the two fields under the terms of their exploration venture agreement. The agreement stipulated that Tullow had the right to pre-empt any offer for Heritage’s half, and to match the offered price.
A month ago, Heritage entered an agreement with ENI for $1.3 billion in cash but in a statement released today, Tullow announced that they had indeed exercised their pre-emptive right, and would enter into a Sale and Purchase Agreement with Heritage.
According to Heritage, however, the final decision now rests with the Ugandan government; "The Government will determine which transaction to approve (either the acquisition by Eni or Tullow’s pre-emption of such acquisition) in its role as final arbiter", the company said in a statement. However, Eni or another bidder will have the option of raising their offer, and Tullow will again have the right to match this.
Source: Africa investor