Apple Oil & Gas, the British Virgin Islands-registered company which mounted a takeover bid for Aminex, has extended its offer until April 25th.

By the first closing date of the offer on April 4th, Apple said it had received acceptances from shares representing 17.74 per cent of the company. The bulk of those were from parties that had already given irrevocable undertakings to Apple to accept the offer. New acceptances relate to fewer than three million shares.

Aminex noted that 82 per cent of shareholders had not accepted Apple's offer and that most of the 17 per cent acceptances were made up by Forest Nominees Limited, which owns more than 30 per cent of Apple, suggesting there was little external support for the offer. Apple said it was confident of success or it would have pulled its bid by now.

Apple is offering four of its own shares, traded on the Ofex over-the-counter market in London, for every 11 Aminex shares, valuing the latter at just 2.36 pence sterling each. The offer also includes one unit of zero coupon loan notes for every Aminex share, the value of which is uncertain.

Aminex has dismissed the offer, which is at a significant discount to the 27 pence sterling price at which it was trading before the offer, as opportunistic.

"Apple's own investment case is suspect and its chief executive's track record must call into question Apple's ability to deliver on its promises," according to Aminex chief executive, Mr Brian Hall.