ONGC Videsh Ltd (OVL), the overseas investment arm of ONGC, has agreed to acquire LSE-listed Imperial Energy Corporation plc for approximately £1.4 billion (about Rs 11,400 crore).

Under the terms of the share offer, Imperial Energy shareholders will be entitled to receive 1,250 pence in cash for each Imperial Energy share held.

Imperial Energy is an independent upstream oil exploration and production company having its main activities in the Russian Federation. It is listed on the official list of the London Stock Exchange. The company produced about 10,000 barrels of oil per day in December 2007 and is targeting to raise this to 80,000 barrels a day by the end of 2011.

According to sources, Imperial Energy Directors have considered the terms of the offer to be "fair and reasonable", and now they intend unanimously to recommend that Imperial Energy shareholders and bondholders accept the respective offers.