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Suncor Energy (NYSE:SU) will buy a smaller stake in the Fort Hills oil sands mine in Alberta from Teck Resources (TECK) after partner TotalEnergies (NYSE:TTE) exercised its right of first refusal on Friday and will acquire an extra 6.65% in the asset for C$312M (US234M).
Suncor (SU) originally wanted to buy Teck’s (TECK) 21.3% interest in Fort Hills, but Total (TTE) then challenged the plan in an Alberta court; Reuters reported Suncor will follow through in acquiring the rest of the mine, expanding its majority stake to 68.77% instead of 75.42% as planned.
For TotalEnergies (TTE), buying the additional stake in Fort Hills takes its total share of the project to 31.23% from 24.58%.
TotalEnergies (TTE) said in September it planned to exit Canadian oil sands via a spinoff in line with its low-carbon strategy; by acquiring an added interest in Fort Hills, the company said it is building up the spinoff entity into an asset with better growth potential.
The spinoff is expected to be submitted to a vote at the company’s annual shareholders meeting in May.
Suncor Energy (SU) offers a solid dividend yield and has massive surplus cash flows, Jonathan Weber writes in an analysis newly published on Seeking Alpha.