Aberdeen-based Dana's board angered some of its biggest shareholders by rejecting the proposed offer.  Dana's largest investor Schroders, with stake 15.47pc, has backed the deal after earlier urging the management to consider a deal seriously and engage with the Koreans.  BlackRock (3.16pc) and JPMorgan Asset Management (2.58pc) are the other shareholders.  The hedge funds holding long-only positions in the company via CFDs include Eton Park (3.43pc), Jabre Capital (3.28pc) and Davidson Kempner European PArtners (3.2pc).  The London-listed oil company's share rose to £17.90 in early trading on Friday.  The £18-a-share offer is a near 60pc premium to the Dana share price when the approach was first revealed in early July.  The shares fell more than 12pc, to below £15 a share, after it announced that it had ended talks. Talks stalled following meetings in Calgary, where KNOC last year bought Canadian explorer Harvest Energy for C$1.7bn (£1.1bn).  Dana insisted that it was unable to open its books without a confidentiality agreement from KNOC and said the offer undervalued its assets.  Dr. Seong-Hoon Kim, senior executive vice president of KNOC, said in a statement on Friday: "We believe that our offer of 1,800 pence per share fully and fairly reflects all of Dana’s recently announced and ongoing developments, together with its exploration potential."  On Friday, Dana urged shareholders to take no action ahead of its interim results on August 27, when "the company will give a full operational update on its current production, development and exploration activities".  Dana has underperformed its exploration and production peers over the past 12 months, but some City analysts have argued that its exploration potential has been undervalued.  The oil company has been releasing a stream of news about small drilling successes since the bid. However, two of its biggest potential discoveries have turned up dry in recent months.
KNOC, Korea's state oil company, has launched a hostile &pound;1.87bn bid for Dana    Petroleum with the backing of shareholders and hedge funds with an interest    in nearly half the North Sea oil explorers' shares.