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Santos’ $30b mystery: What happened over the 72 hours that torched the deal?

Elizabeth Knight Business columnist September 18, 2025 — 2.29pm Advertisement

Friday was meant to be a historic day – the signing of the country’s largest-ever cash takeover . Instead, the minutes-to-midnight withdrawal of the giant Emirati buyer for oil and gas producer Santos will join the history books as an unnatural disaster.

The finale to this saga has left a trail of unhappy campers, a bitter aftertaste for all involved, and plenty of questions to be answered.

The $30 billion Santos takeover has been scrapped at the last minute. Credit: Fairfax Media

Now we have entered the blame game period.

First there is the bidder, a consortium

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