MELBOURNE, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Embattled Australian oil and gas producer Santos Ltd STO.AX said on Thursday it had rejected a A$7.1 billion ($5.1 billion) takeover proposal from U.S.-based fund manager Scepter, pitched at a 26 percent premium to its last trade.
"The Proposal is considered to be opportunistic in nature and does not reflect the fair underlying asset value of the company," Santos said in a statement to the Australian stock exchange.
Santos effectively put itself on the block in August, looking to sell assets to cut its A$8.8 billion net debt pile to weather a sharp slump in oil prices amid the start-up of its $18.5 billion Gladstone liquefied natural gas project.
($1 = 1.3866 Australian dollars)