The man thing was board approval. Once that was affirmative, as...

The man thing was board approval.

Once that was affirmative, as per the last mkt update, then I guess its a matter of signing the deal. The nitty-gritty should have been thrashed out in October by the legal eagles. I would expect the company rep's 2b present in Melbne for this. There r plenty of niche law firms (Gilberts, Slaters etc etc) that cater to these sort of transactions on behalf of overseas buyers (as has been the case in the resources sector in recent times).

Lets see what how the rest of the week unfolds.

Once the cat's out of the bag, then the next stop will b FIRB.

Recent FIRB rule ammendments means a deal above A$219m needs to go thro the FIRB approval (benchmark was A$100m mid-year, which has been revised).

IMHO, the FIRB timeframe could b a 4-6 weeks, so I'd expect early Feb 2b a crucial period for MEO, just my view frm recent followings seen at Aquila, Felix, Nufarm.

Frm a sector perspective, AED-Sinopec deal a few years back, took 8 weeks. Most recent one in the energy sector has been the Santos-GDF Suez deal. I dont think this should b a show-stoppers (there were the CSG deals too, lest we forget 2008 as the year of BG, COP & Petronas).

MEO have already indicated that drilling will b in second half of 2010. We should see profit taking, when the farminee is annc'd.

Lets see if its the Norge's, Scots or the Brazilians or someone totally frm the left field.

About time this moggy cat got out of the bag!!