Mumbai, April 24: Eni UK Holding Plc, a wholly owned subsidiary of Italian energy group Eni, has made an open offer to acquire up to 20 per cent in Hindustan Oil Exploration Company Ltd (HOEC) for Rs 376.58 crore in cash.

Eni will acquire 2.61 crore shares of HOEC at Rs 144.2 apiece through the offer, which will be open between June 11 and June 30 this year.

Eni Holding is one of the largest integrated energy companies in the world with a market capitalisation of about 92 billion euros as on April 15.

The group is mainly involved in oil and gas, electricity generation, petrochemicals, oil field services and engineering industries.

The mandatory open offer follows Eni’s acquisition of 3.54 crore shares of the UK-based Burren Energy Plc in February, which resulted in an indirect holding of 27.17 per cent in HOEC.

Founded by late H.T. Parekh in 1983, HOEC was the first private company in the country to enter oil and gas exploration.

It is engaged in exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, both onshore and offshore.

The company has interests in seven oil and gas assets in India, which are at various phases of exploration, development or production.

As on March 31, 2007, HOEC’s crude oil and natural gas reserves were estimated at about 50.5 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company recorded a total income of Rs 126.06 crore for the year ended March 2007.

In 2005, Burren Energy Plc picked up a 26 per cent controlling stake in the company from Unocal, now known as Burren Shakti Ltd.

HOEC’s subsidiary, HOEC Bardahl India Ltd, is into formulation, manufacturing and marketing of high-performance fuel and engine additives.

The company said the offer was not subject to a minimum level of acceptance. N.M. Rothschild will manage the offer.

Shares of HOEC fell 7.14 per cent to Rs 141.10 on the Bombay Stock Exchange today.