Santos Ltd's rebuffed suitor, Scepter, is likely to walk away after Santos opted to sell A$500 million ($351 million) in new shares to a Chinese private equity firm at well below Scepter's offer price, a source familiar with Scepter's thinking said on Nov. 9.

Santos, an oil and gas production company, last month rejected an A$7.1 billion takeover proposal from Scepter, a fund backed by the royal families of Brunei and the United Arab Emirates, saying the offer of A$6.88 a share was too cheap.