NEW DELHI/LONDON (Reuters) - The bid approach for UK-listed Gulfsands Petroleum
The Syria-focussed oil explorer last week rejected the unsolicited takeover approach, saying the proposal was "wholly inadequate."
The joint venture between state-run energy firms Indian Oil and Oil India approached shareholders to sound them out and sent a letter to the board, the sources said.
The largest shareholder, with a stake of around 21 percent, is institutional investor Schroders. Andy Brough, who runs one of the funds, told The Sunday Telegraph he was "keen for management to engage" with the bidders.
The company, whose shares closed at 308 pence on Friday, is due to upgrade its reserves estimate before the end of March, potentially boosting its valuation.
(Reporting by Nidhi Verma in New Delhi and Rosalba O'Brien in London, editing by Hans Peters and Matthew Lewis)
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