United Arab Emirates investors have made an almost $30 billion cash bid to take over Australian oil and gas producer Santos.

A group of investors, spearheaded by XRG, which is a division of the state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Company, along with the Abu Dhabi Development Holding Company and the American private equity firm Carlyle, put forward a non-binding indicative offer on Friday.

They proposed $8.99 cash per share to acquire Santos, representing a 28 percent premium over the stock’s closing price of $6.96 on the same day.

“The Santos Board confirms that, contingent upon agreeing on acceptable terms of a binding scheme implementation agreement, it plans to unanimously recommend that Santos Shareholders vote in favor of the potential transaction,” the board stated.

The board’s early endorsement is due to the absence of a higher offer, and if deemed fair and reasonable by an independent expert.

The transaction is, however, clouded in uncertainty as it needs foreign investment approval by several domestic and international regulatory boards and commissions.

“This announcement does not amount to a firm intention to make a binding offer and there can be no certainty that an offer will be made or any transaction will proceed,” XRG said. 

“Santos notes that there is no certainty that the XRG consortium will enter into a binding scheme implementation agreement or that a potential transaction will proceed,” Santos said.