Businessman advises COS to reject Suncor bid

CALGARY — A prominent Canadian businessman has taken out full-page newspaper ads to declare his opposition to a hostile takeover of Canadian Oil Sands, but the CEO of Suncor Energy says he believes Seymour Schulich is in the minority. In the ads, addressed to fellow COS shareholders, Schulich accused Suncor of “trying to pull a fast one” with its “unacceptable” offer: a quarter of a Suncor share (TSX:SU) for each COS share (TSX:COS). That amounts to a total of $4.3 billion, based on Suncor’s share price. “The fact is Suncor needs Canadian Oil Sands more than we need them,” wrote Schulich who, in his open letter, described a long career working and investing in the oil and gas industry. “I’m not selling at this price and you shouldn’t either.” The ads appear in the Tuesday business sections of The Globe and Mail and the National Post newspapers as the two Calgary-based oilsands companies woo shareholders ahead of a Friday deadline set by Suncor. Suncor also took out ads addressing COS shareholders with the headline: “Hope is not a strategy.”