By Ole Petter Skonnord
OSLO, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Norwegian oil company Okea plans aninitial public offering (IPO) in Oslo within the next 12 months,the firm backed by Seacrest Capital said on Friday.
A number of private-equity-backed firms, including Chrysaor,Neptune and Siccar Point, have entered the North Sea oil and gassector since the oil market's 2014 downturn.
They have acquired portfolios from energy companies such asShell, Engie and OMV.
Okea, co-founded by former Norwegian oil and energy ministerOla Borten Moe in 2015, agreed in June to acquire stakes inNorway's Draugen and Gjoea fields from Shell for 4.5 billionNorwegian crowns ($535 million).
The acquisition gave the company production of around 20,000barrels of oil equivalent per day.
"The Shell acquisition transforms Okea and puts the companyin a strong position to execute on its organic growth strategyand pursue further M&A opportunities," Chief Executive ErikHaugane said in a statement on Friday.
The transaction was partly funded by a one billion crowncommitment from majority owner Seacrest Capital Group andco-investor Bangchak Corporation.
Okea on Friday also said it would raise $13.1 million via aprivate placement to finance working capital prior to closingthe acquisition.
Pareto Securities AS and SpareBank 1 Markets AS are actingas managers and bookrunners for the private placement.
Okea also holds a tiny stake in Aker BP's IvarAasen field, a 15-percent stake in Repsol's Yme fieldand a 70 percent stake in the Grevling discovery.
($1 = 8.4130 Norwegian crowns)(Additional reporting by Ron Bousso in London; Editing by MarkPotter and Nerijus Adomaitis)
