Heritage Oil merger set back by FSA inquiry

Shares in Heritage Oil fell 3.9 per cent yesterday after the explorer warned its planned $5.5bn (£3.4bn) merger with Turkey's Genel Energy could be delayed because of an inquiry by City regulators.

Heritage said the FSA inquiry could potentially affect the ability of certain Genel managers "to assume their proposed role" in merger group. Analysts predicted the deal would be delayed by a couple of months rather than derailed by inquiry.