Eni and Var Energi Will Buy Leading Independent Gas Company
Italian energy company Eni and its Norwegian oil and gas subsidiary Var Energi will acquire Neptune, a leading independent low-emission gas exploration and production company focused on gas operations in Western Europe, North Africa, Indonesia and Australia, for $4.5 billion. from the Eni release.
“Eni will acquire assets comprising the entire portfolio of Neptune, excluding its operations in Germany and Norway. The German operations will be spun off prior to the completion of the Eni transaction, and the Norwegian operations will be acquired by Var directly from Neptune under a separate share purchase agreement,” the statement reads. release.
Under the agreed terms, the value of Neptune Global Business will be about $2.6 billion and Neptune Norway Business about $2.3 billion. As of December 31, 2022, net debt of Neptune Global Business, imputed to include the sale of Neptune Norway Business, was approximately $0.5 billion. The final net consideration for both trades will be subject to normal closing adjustments and will be paid in cash upon completion. The deal with Eni will be funded by available liquidity.
It is specified that the Var deal will be closed ahead of the Eni deal, with the proceeds from the sale in Norway remaining with the global Neptune business acquired by Eni. Thus, the deal will add about 130,000 barrels of oil equivalent to the portfolios of Eni and Var. Based on this, Eni estimates that the deal will add more than 100,000 oil equivalents to the OECD markets via pipeline or LNG. At the same time, earlier in June, the media reported that Eni was in closed negotiations to acquire the oil and gas company Neptune Energies, and also that the deal could be worth between 5 and 6 billion dollars.
Eni is an energy company operating in 62 countries and employing about 32,000 people. Engaged in exploration, development and production of oil and gas; processing, marketing, trade and transportation of raw materials; as well as renewable energy sources. Var Energi was formed in 2018 as a result of the merger of Eni Norge AS and Point Resources AS. The company is a new generation of exploration and production (E&P) companies on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS).
Neptune Energies is owned by China Investment Group (CIC), the Carlyle Group and CVC Capital Partners. The company, in particular, operates in Europe (Britain, Norway, the Netherlands), Africa (Algeria), Asia (Indonesia).
