RE: Inishkea29 Jun 2022 08:43
Brendanor on the PVR board.
Is Larry Goodman now Providence Resources’ biggest shareholder?
A large volume of shares in the owner of an oil field worth billions off the coast of Cork has just been acquired by one buyer. The seller of these shares has previously sold to Goodman and may have done so again.
28th Jun, 2022 - 2 min read
Tom Lyons
Chief Executive
Larry Goodman is believed to have increased his stake to over 15 per cent of Providence Resources, making him the largest single shareholder in the exploration minnow.
Goodman, one of Ireland’s richest people, first invested in Providence about 14 months ago, but he has been building his stake significantly recently.
Last week it emerged that he had built an 8.8 per cent stake in Providence using his investment company Vevan Unlimited Company after participating in a $1.8 million placing of securities by the company with its existing shareholders.
But has he now increased his position even further? On Monday, an 8.2 per cent shareholder in Providence called M&G Investment Management sold most of its shares to a new purchaser. The buyer of this position, which was sold in one chunk, is believed to be Goodman’s Vevan Unlimited Company.
The beef baron originally bought into Providence just below the 3 per cent disclosure level in April 2021. Later in 2021, he increased his stake by buying shares from M&G, so he has an established track record in buying shares in Providence from the British asset manager.
Up 40 per cent in five days
Providence’s share price has been a rollercoaster for investors in recent years, but it is up almost 40 per cent in the last five trading days, albeit off a small base.
Its current market capitalisation is only €26.6 million, far off its peak in the low billions when the company announced it had discovered the Barryroe oil field off the coast of Kinsale in 2012.
Goodman is famously shrewd and media-shy, rarely commenting on his business affairs. He has actively traded in dozens of Irish shares over the years, but usually stays below reporting thresholds unless he has reason to do so. He has increased his stake in Providence at a time of rising energy prices and concerns about energy security in Ireland.
David Horgan, chairman of oil and gas explorer Clontarf Energy, told The Irish Independent on Monday that Ireland is exposed to Russia cutting off the European gas market even if it does not directly buy gas off from Gazprom. “Ireland has been plunged into the likelihood of shortfalls,” Horgan said. “I couldn’t count on Brexit Britain now cutting its own customers off to supply Ireland.”
Providence’s recent $1.8 million placing ensured its continued survival. It does not currently have a chief executive but is led by executive chair Jimmy Menton. For the business to develop an oil field like Barryroe, it will need wealthy shareholders, a new chief executive and Irish government support. In Goodman, it now has a billionaire investor, but work rema
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