Ithaca Energy (LON: ITH) has confirmed a market capitalisation of £2.5 billion for its initial public offering (IPO) in London today, making it “one of the UK’s leading independent oil and gas companies”.LON: ITH
An offer price of 250 pence per share has been set by the company, confirming reports that the long-awaited trading will start on lower end of guidance, which could habe been up to 310 pence and thus a valuation of £3.1bn.
Around 10.4% of Ithaca Energy shares are being sold, with potential for more, to raise around £262.5m, being used to pay down debt.
Ithaca will trade under the ticker ITH as the market opens at 8am today.
Executive chairman of Ithaca Energy, Gilad Myerson, said: “I am delighted with the outcome of our IPO.
“We have received great support from a high-quality selection of institutional investors and I am excited to welcome them on board as we continue to create value in the public markets.
“Ithaca Energy has undergone a transformation over the past three years to become one of the UK’s leading independent oil and gas companies and I am very excited for what lies ahead as we continue our journey in the public markets.”
The offer is comprised of 105,000,000 new Ordinary Shares being sold by the Company, equating to £262.5 million, representing approximately 10.4 per cent of Ithaca Energy’s issued share capital on Admission.
A further 15,000,000 Ordinary Shares are being made available by Delek Energy, Ithaca’s parent company, which if excercised in full, would increase the number of shares in public hands to 120,000,000 Ordinary Shares in total and approximately 11.9 per cent of Ithaca Energy’s issued share capital.
The firm was seeking to raise as much as £310m through the IPO – London’s second-largest this year after Chinese wind turbine manufacturer Ming Yang Smart Energy Group which raised $757m.
It was initially hoping to be the largest this year, before being downgraded.
The move follows other North Sea operators including Harbour Energy and Var Energi in going into public trading.
Ithaca is a unit of Israeli conglomerate Delek Group and has steadily grown its portfolio in recent years.
The firm, which posted pre-tax profits of some £1.45bn in the first half of the year, also has stakes in some of the largest untapped resources in UK waters including operatorship of the Cambo development West of Shetland and a holding in the Rosebank field in the same region.
A period of rampant growth for the firm has seen high-profile deals for Marubeni, Summit Exploration and Siccar Point Energy.
Recommended for you
