Cenovus delays MEG Energy shareholder vote of takeover offer

The Cenovus Christina Lake oil sands facility steam-assisted gravity drainage (SAGD) pad southeast of Fort McMurray, Alta.. Company representatives say this pad, using the most current technology, requires less energy per wellhead to harvest bitumen than earlier versions. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Amber Bracken

CALGARY — Cenovus Energy Inc. says a vote by MEG Energy Corp. shareholders on its proposed takeover offer is being postponed after it appeared to be on course to fall short of the required two-thirds majority to be approved.

The company said Tuesday at the time of the postponement that about 63 per cent of the MEG shares represented by proxy or expected to be voted in person at the meeting backed the bid.

Cenovus says Strathcona Resources Ltd., which owns a 14 per cent stake in MEG and recently dropped its own hostile offer for the company, is assumed to have voted its shares against the deal.

The Cenovus proposal, which is a mix of cash and stock that values MEG at about $8.6 billion, including assumed debt, has the backing of the MEG board of directors.

Both MEG and Cenovus urged shareholders to support the takeover offer Tuesday.

“Cenovus would like to reiterate that the transaction terms represent Cenovus’s best and final offer, and is the only corporate transaction currently available to MEG shareholders,” Cenovus said in a statement.

MEG said shareholders who have not already voted should vote their shares for the deal by the revised deadline, while those who previously voted against the deal are recommended to revoke their prior vote and support the offer.

The vote, which had be set for Wednesday, has been delayed until Oct. 30. The deadline for submitting proxies has been extended to Oct. 29.

The postponement is the second time the vote by MEG shareholders has been delayed. Shareholders were set to vote on the deal earlier this month, but was delayed after Cenovus raised its offer and increased the proportion of shares available under its bid.

Cenovus and MEG have side-by-side oilsands properties at Christina Lake, south of Fort McMurray, Alta., while Strathcona also has operations in the region.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.