UPDATE 2-INTERVIEW-Wavefield shareholder seeks TGS merger delay

(Adds TGS statement on contarct, share reaction)

By Wojciech Moskwa

OSLO, Nov 16 (Reuters) - The $1.2 billion Norwegian seismic tie-up between TGS-Nopec (TGS.OL) and Wavefield Inseis WAVE.OL hit a new obstacle on Friday when a Wavefield shareholder called for a delay and more favourable merger terms.

The shareholder, London-based fund Audley Capital, said TGS probably knew it had missed market estimates of third-quarter earnings at the time Wavefield shareholders voted for the merger in September, unaware a profit warning was around the corner.

TGS-Nopec says it did nothing wrong, but under pressure from Wavefield it asked PriceWaterhouseCoopers to review its books. The result of the probe should be made public ahead of Wavefield's extraordinary shareholders meeting on Nov. 19.

"We hope to at least delay the merger completion (at the EGM)...until key facts are established," Guillaume Molhant Proost, an adviser to Audley Capital, told Reuters.

"Information from senior executives in the seismic industry indicates that it is highly unlikely that TGS had no idea that it would miss third quarter market estimates."

A recent wave of consolidation among seismic groups has broadly lifted their valuations, and some analysts have suggested that Wavefield may be better off without TGS.

Shares in Wavefield initially rose 1 percent in the wake of the shareholder's comments, which some said increased the chances of the merger derailing.