potential takeover

Come across this post from Patersons securities maybe this is why so many brokers are predicting $18 to $22.

When things are looking promising, it’s amazing the amount of merger and acquisition speculation that gets
generated. Yesterday we mentioned a few potential takeover targets for BHP after it told The Wall Street
Journal it was looking to make significant acquisitions in the next year. Another one to add to that potential
takeover list is Santos (STO).
The South Australian government imposed 15% shareholder ownership cap on the company was lifted in
November 2008 and analysts believe Santos would be a great fit for the likes of BHP or another big player
such as Exxon Mobil and Chevron Corp. STO CEO told reporters last week when asked about a potential offer
coming its way, we are like “any other firm, there's continuous flow of information and discussions, we're just
like any other business now." Management might be talking down a potential bid but the rumour just won’t go
away considering the date that allows potential bidders to make an offer has passed. (September 1, 2009)
Possible suitors include: Royal Dutch Shell, BP, AGL Energy, state owned Asian firms such as China
National Offshore Oil Corporation or Santos’s liquefied natural gas JV partner, Malaysia’s Petronas.
Santos has great exposure to the LNG space and at the moment has four LNG projects going and is partnering
with larger companies to receive help financially and technically. Citi says the option of building an LNG
terminal in NSW in the longer term could be another key reason for the stock to be bid for. They have a Buy
recommendation and a 2090c target price. GSJB Were recently lifted its recommendation to Buy from Hold
and their target price to 1875c. They say, “STO has now entered a "make or break" period, and hence within
our 12 month horizon we expect Gladstone LNG to be sanctioned by STO / Petronas.”
Most brokers at the moment have a Buy recommendation on the stock. The stock is up 1.68% in the past
month and still down 11.3% in past 12 months. A potential takeover price would have to be around $20 and
there is a strong possibility that a bidding auction could erupt between a few of the bigger boys.