Norwegian oil exploration company Det norske oljeselskap (Det norske) has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire Svenska Petroleum Exploration, the Norwegian subsidiary of Sweden’s Svenska Petroleum, for a cash consideration of $75m.
The deal has been done on a cash free, debt free basis, with all of Svenska’s 15 employees in Norway to be transferred to Det norske. Svenska holds 13 licenses in Norway including the Krafla/Askja (25%), Garantiana (20%), Frigg Gamma Delta (40%) and Fulla/Lille-Frigg (25%) discoveries in the North Sea. It also holds four exploration licenses in the Norwegian Sea.
Karl Johnny Hersvik, CEO of Det norske, commented: “This transaction states our ambition of growth on the Norwegian Continental Shelf, and is a solid contribution to building Det norske as an independent E&P company. This increases our ownership in attractive discoveries with resource upside potential and is a logical bolt-on acquisition for Det norske, given the overlap in our asset portfolios.
“The acquisition fits very well in our existing portfolio as investments decisions on the these new developments will occur after start-up of Ivar Aasen and the majority of the CAPEX will thus be funded by Johan Sverdrup cash flow.”
Det norske said the transaction will be funded through existing cash and undrawn debt facilities, and it expects the transaction to be completed in the first quarter of 2016 subject to regulatory approvals.
