The defeat of Enoc, which is controlled by Dubay Goverment, represents a victory for Baillie GiffordINVESTORS in Dragon Oil scuppered a dollars 1.9billion (pounds 1.2 billion) takeover bid from its majority shareholder, Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) last Friday. The Turkmenistan-focused company said that 51 per cent of shareholders who voted at an extraordinary meeting had rejected a 455p a share bid from its biggest shareholder ENOC. At the meeting held last Friday at a hotel on Park Lane in the West End of London, ENOC, which already owns 52 per cent of the shares, had needed the support of 75 per cent of the remaining shareholders in order to secure approval. The defeat of ENOC, which is controlled by the Dubai Government, represents a victory for Baillie Gifford, an Edinburgh-based fund manager. It has led a vigorous campaign against the offer, supported by many retail shareholders, who also launched an online campaign called "Save Dragon Oil". The decision will also came as a blow to Enoc's hopes of becoming a vertically integrated oil company and it will also deprive the company of access to Dragon's dollars 1 billion cash pile. The bid had been recommended by a committee of independent Dragon directors, but was criticised by many as a "low-ball offer". ENOC made the takeover offer on June 4 and formalised it on November 4, pressing ahead despite a financial crisis that has engulfed Dubai in recent weeks. Shareholders at the meeting strongly criticised directors for agreeing to the bid. "Why has Dragon Oil been put in the deep freeze for the last two years?" said investor Erik Ullstrand. Nigel McCue, the chairman of the independent committee, responded by saying that Dragon had been seeking good quality assets to buy but had failed to find any. Richard Sneller, the head of emerging markets equities at Baillie Gifford, adopted a more conciliatory tone. "We continue to have high regard for Dragon Oil's board of directors and fully respect the decision of the independent committee to bring the offer from ENOC to the attention of shareholders," he said. "The opportunity to invest in a business with exceptional organic growth is one that we covet highly." Dragon shares slipped 8 per cent before recovering to close down 3.8per cent at 378p. Dragon is one of a small group of companies operating in Turkmenistan, which has the world's fifth-largest gas reserves. Dragon's main production assets include two oil and gas fields in the Cheleken area of the Caspian Sea off Turkmenistan. Average production rose by 9 per cent in the third quarter to 46,060 barrels of oil.