J.P. Morgan maintained the MI Energy (1555.HK) increase rating, and the stock has already surpassed the target price (HK$2.50).

MI Energy announced that it will acquire Emir-Oil, LLC for 170 million US dollars. The latter is a registered entity in the Republic of Kazakhstan and has oil exploration, drilling and extraction interests in the contract area in southwestern China of the country. From a strategic perspective, this move has expanded the geographical scope of MI Energy's business. J.P. Morgan expects the transaction price to be about 7.5 times the earnings per share for fiscal year 2010 (ending March 2010), 20% off MI Energy's current price (equivalent to 9.5 times the predicted earnings per share for fiscal year 2011); J.P. Morgan added that not many details of the financing related to the above acquisition were disclosed, but it is estimated that about 40% will be paid in cash.

MI Energy rose 14.16% throughout the day to close at HK$2.58.