The management team behind the Faroe Petroleum success are launching a new company, Longboat Energy, which is coming to London’s AIM market with a £10mln initial public offering.
It aims to fast track the creation of a new full-cycle North Sea oil and gas business, starting with the acquisition of assets where the team can add value via subsurface and operational improvements.
That would be followed up with further opportunities to acquire ‘near-field’ exploration.
Longboat highlighted that there’s presently a unique opportunity to build a meaningful North Sea E&P on a relatively short time scale, as a ‘dislocation’ in the industry has triggered significant exits from the region.
Graham Stewart chairman of Longboat, formerly chief executive at Faroe, said: “Longboat has been established to capitalise on the current opportunity in the North Sea and continue the strategy we started at Faroe, delivering value to investors through a combination of innovative and selective M&A, driving operational efficiencies into its assets, and continuing our record as world-class explorers.”
Faroe’s former chief operating officer Helge Hammer leads Longboat as chief executive.
Stewart highlighted that Hammer was instrumental in driving Faroe’s operational performance and leading exploration track record.
Hammer himself said: "Longboat Energy is targeting high quality acquisition opportunities in Norway and the UK with the aim of fast-tracking the development of a new, full-cycle, mid cap E&P.
“We will utilise our strong industry relationships and deep asset knowledge to target assets where we can unlock value and look to replicate Faroe's track record of delivering value through exploration.
“The capital being raised through our IPO will enable Longboat to carry out due diligence on targeted potential deals and fund the business until we make our first acquisition."
Longboat noted that the £10mln raised via the stock market float will boost the company’s credibility with asset vendors and it expects that additional capital will be raised alongside the first acquisition.
Norwegian oil firm DNO seized control of Faroe earlier this year via hostile takeover, picking up the company at a price of 160p per share which valued the company at £641mln.
Faroe’s management ceded to recommend the hostile offer in January though at the time noted they did not believe it represented fair value for the company’s assets.