Indonesia's Medco Energi Internasional said on Friday a possible all-cash takeover offer by its unit for Ophir Energy would value the British firm at £340 million ($435.88 million).

Medco said shareholders of Ophir would receive 48.5 pence in cash for each Ophir share.

London-listed Ophir on Friday afternoon confirmed that Medco had made an "updated possible offer" at this price.

"This announcement does not amount to a firm intention to make an offer under Rule 2.7 of the Code and there can be no certainty that any offer will be made," Ophir continued.

Under UK takeover rules, Medco's fully-owned subsidiary PT Medco Energi Global has until 28 January to make a firm offer or walk away.

Analysts have said a deal with Ophir would boost Medco's valuations and help it gain access to international assets.

The price represents a 46.1% premium to Ophir's share close of 33.2 pence on 28 December, the last business day before Medco Global announced the possible offer for Ophir.

Ophir did not immediately respond to a request for comment to Reuters.

Ophir, whose shares fell 47% in 2018, has said it expects to report a non-cash write down of $300 million on a liquefied natural gas project in Africa and that it would shift its headquarters from London to Asia, where it bought assets in 2018.

Founded by oil and gas tycoon Arifin Panigoro, Medco has made sizeable acquisitions in recent years, including leading a $2.6 billion purchase of the Indonesian unit of Newmont Mining in November 2016. It also operates power plants in Indonesia.

Medco, headquartered in Jakarta, earns the bulk of its revenue from oil and gas operations, mainly in Indonesia. The firm has focussed on expanding its Southeast Asia presence and adding to its existing assets in the Middle East and North Africa.

Standard Chartered Bank is acting as financial adviser to Medco.

Shares in Ophir, which has a market value of £305 million, were 3.4% higher at 44.5 pence at 11:38am GMT.

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Medco could offer £340m for Ophir