SYDNEY, Feb 8 Reuters A hedge fund pushing Santos to split off its liquefied natural gas LNG assets is resuming its campaign, as management and investors look for ways to revive a share price back in the doldrums after failed talks to merge with bigger rival Woodside.

Melbournebased L1 Capital in October went public with a proposal to Santos management to demerge its LNG assets in Australia and Papua New Guinea to help improve the company39;s stock performance relative to energy peers.

Santos CEO Kevin Gallagher acknowledged the plan at an investor day the following month and said the company was assessing options to revive a frustrating share price.

With a Woodside deal now off the table, L1 plans to meet management later this month to push for a detailed study of the demerger plan, James Hawkins, head of the L1 Capital Catalyst fund told Reuters in an interview on Thursday.

The jewels in the crown are the LNG assets, he said. Today39;s share price tells you the market is not fairly valuing the current mix of Santos assets. Something structural needs to be done.

L1 Capital, which manages roughly A6 billion 3.9 billion, owns about A400 million worth of Santos shares across two funds.

Other shareholders are wary about L139;s core contention that the LNG assets are so undervalued today that a spinoff would attract a hefty premium. L1 said the combined value of the two separate companies could be roughly 40 higher than Thursday39;s close of A7.34, which valued Santos…