ENOC appeals to Dragon Oil investors with 735p-a-share offer

LONDON, May 21 (Reuters) - Emirates National Oil Co (ENOC) went public on Thursday with an offer to buy out minority shareholders in Dragon Oil (LSE: DGO.L - news) for 735 pence a share, after talks with a committee set up by the Turkmenistan-focused oil explorer proved fruitless.

ENOC, which already owns 54 percent of Dragon Oil, made an approach to buy the remainder on March 15, set at an undisclosed premium to Dragon's closing price of 509.5 pence on March 13.

Dragon Oil set up a committee, including four independent directors, to evaluate the Emirati company's proposal.

ENOC said its latest proposal, made to the committee on May 14, represented a "substantial increase" on its opening gambit and it believed it was suitable to recommend to shareholders.

"There is great uncertainty in the sector and we believe, as a long term and supportive shareholder, that Dragon Oil has achieved as much as is possible through its existing upstream strategy," ENOC Chief Executive Saif Al Falasi said in a statement issued shortly before the London stock market closed.

"Moreover, Dragon Oil stands to benefit significantly from being part of the integrated platform that ENOC offers. To that end, we want to ensure that all of Dragon Oil's shareholders have the opportunity to evaluate the Proposal on its merits."

Dragon Oil shares closed up 5.4 percent at 680p. (Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by David Holmes)