Tullow20 Jul 2020 22:52
Picked this up from the SAVE board (thanks to Zengas):
Another report in AEI today saying Tullow may be forced to sell more assets to help reduce it's debts. It's reported to be trying to raise a further $1b. It approved it's Uganda sale for $575m at board level 2 days ago. These assets are in the same region as where Oxy is selling it's Jubilee/TEN stakes.
The tone of the article is lack of buyers ie meaning distressed sales. AEI reckons the Equitorial Guinea assets may be sold -
' New Tullow Oil boss Rahul Dhir may be forced to sell further assets
In a delicate situation with the banks over its debts, Tullow Oil, the junior with the most extensive assets on the continent, is faced with some tough and urgent decisions.
Having taken over the reins of Tullow Oil barely a fortnight ago, the ex-Delonex boss Rahul Dhir does not have much time to get the company back on its feet. Its stakes in Ceiba and Okume producing blocks in Equatorial Guinea, operated by Kosmos Energy and Trident Energy, could figure high up the list of potential asset sales.
Limited pool of potential buyers
In late 2019, Tullow retained Natixis to sell part of its holding in Kenya's 13T and 10BB blocks (reducing its stake from 50% to 30%), but the sale has been complicated by the unfavourable climate created by the Covid-19 pandemic and the fact that the Kenya finance and justice ministries are opposed to the contractual amendments negotiated with the petroleum ministry for the development phase (Africa Intelligence, 03/03/20).
And companies are not exactly queuing up to acquire these assets either. Backed the American asset manager Carlyle, Boru Energy, which was set up by Tullow Oil founder Aidan Heavey in 2019, may be interested in certain assets, and another company in which Carlyle has a 30% stake, Neptune Energy, could be tempted too. Its main investor (with a 49% stake) is the sovereign fund China Investment Corp, and in 2018 it acquired Engie E&P assets in Algeria and Egypt. And lastly, Trident Energy, which is supported by the global private equity giant Warburg Pincus, might take an interest in certain blocks including those in Equatorial Guinea.
Tullow was once worth an estimated £15bn, but its value slipped below the one-billion mark back in March. '
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