Indian oil company ONGC said it will proceed with its 1.3 billion pounds ($1.89 billion) takeover of UK-listed Imperial Energy, to the relief of Imperial investors who feared ONGC would back out of the high-priced deal. The company's overseas unit, ONGC Videsh, said in a statement on Wednesday that shareholders representing 97 percent of Imperial Energy had accepted its offer by the Tuesday deadline and that the offer was now unconditional. ONGC Videsh said it intended to use Imperial Energy as a platform around which to build a wider business in Western Siberia. The Indian government has charged ONGC and other state-controlled energy companies with securing energy resources to power India's economy, which has been booming in recent years. However, Imperial investors believed ONGC would back out of the deal - which was agreed when crude traded at around $130 a barrel, compared with less than $40 now - if its condition of 90 percent acceptance was not met.
