Gulfsands Petroleum has rejected a joint bid by Indian Oil Corp and OIL to acquire a 22 per cent stake in the UK-listed firm at 315p a share, as it felt the offer was too low. (See: Indian Oil may hike its £400 million unsolicited bid for Gulfsands Petroleum)
 
The "unsolicited" offer that valued the company at about 381 million pounds ($569.5 million), was "wholly inadequate," Gulfsands said in a release.

"The board of directors of Gulfsands Petroleum plc confirms that it has rejected a preliminary approach received on 18 March regarding a possible offer for the company," the release said.

"The approach is highly conditional and subject to due diligence and other material pre-conditions. Further, this approach was unsolicited and Gulfsands is not currently involved in any process to solicit offers for the company," the release added.

Gulfsands said the company's board was unanimously of the view that the proposal was wholly inadequate and materially undervalued the company.

Gulfsands' board said the company aims to become one of the pre-eminent exploration and production companies in the Middle East.

Shares in Syria-focused Gulfsands have jumped 26 per cent to 330p after the company announced the offer on 18 March.

"OIL and IOC confirm that they have jointly made an approach regarding a possible all cash offer for Gulfsands," the two firms said in a joint statement to the London Stock Exchange.

"There can be no certainty that an offer will be forthcoming," the companies said in the statement.

The UK-based firm is reported to have earlier rejected a 400-million-pound takeover offer.