Woodside and Santos $80 Billion Merger Talks Fail

Talks on a merger between rival energy producers Woodside and Santos have ended, with the parties reportedly unable to agree on a valuation. In the wake of the announcement, Santos shares fell by almost 9 percent while Woodside’s rose by 1 percent. If it had gone ahead, the merger would have created a global business worth over $80 billion (US$52 billion), making it been the world’s fourth-largest listed LNG producer after Shell, ExxonMobil, and Chevron, with a market share of about 19 percent of Australia’s total gas output. Woodside, which is more than twice as large as Santos in terms of market value and revenue, reportedly did not come up with a bid for the smaller company’s shares, after almost two months of due diligence and negotiations between the two....