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UAE's Aabar set to take over Singapore's Pearl

"We have to complete some formalities to take the remaining 3 per cent, but they are just formalities," said an Aabar spokesman, adding that a 97.04 per cent stake had been taken in the exploration and production company.

Aabar's offer of S$1.95 per share valued Pearl Energy at about S$865 million ($547.1 million).

"The acquisition of Pearl Energy marks a key milestone in the development of Aabar as a leading E&P (exploration and production) company," said Aabar's chairman, Sohail Al Mazrui, in a statement.

The statement said Aabar planned to delist Pearl and make it a wholly owned subsidiary. It said more than 430 million shares had been acquired. "Aabar is keen for the existing management and staff of Pearl Energy and its subsidiaries to continue to pursue and develop opportunities available in the Southeast Asia region and in other regions," the statement said.

Aabar announced its bid for the shares it did not already own in Pearl at the end of March, having bought a 48 per cent stake from Indonesia-based Austindo Group in January.

The spokesman said that since the UAE firm had more than 90 per cent of Pearl's shares the remaining shareholders would be obliged under Singapore law to sell their shares to the UAE company. Aabar has said it intends to acquire firms in the oil and gas industry to add to its offshore and onshore rigs.

Gulf Arab investors poured more than $30 billion into foreign takeovers in 2005 — more than in the previous five years combined — as they tried to use record oil revenues to diversify their economies.