Disposal of Capricorn Norge AS

RNS Number : 8138U

Cairn Energy PLC

27 November 2019

 

THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                  27 November 2019 

CAIRN ENERGY PLC

("Cairn" or "Company" or "Group")

Disposal of Capricorn Norge AS

Cairn announces that it has entered into an agreement to dispose of the entire share capital of Capricorn

Norge AS, the company's wholly owned subsidiary in Norway.

With effect from 1 January 2020, Solveig Gas Norway AS shall acquire all of the shares in Capricorn Norge AS by paying US$100 million (m) plus customary working capital adjustments on completion (including an adjustment for the tax receivable related to historical exploration activity).

Following this transaction, Cairn will have disposed of all of its assets in Norway and will reduce its committed exploration and development capital expenditure by ~US$100m. 

Cairn will use the proceeds of the transaction to fund its ongoing business.

Simon Thomson, Cairn Chief Executive, said:

"This is a further attractive transaction for Cairn shareholders in line with our consistent strategy to realise value and redeploy capital within our portfolio.

We continue to have a material business in the UK North Sea where production performance of the Kraken and Catcher assets remains strong.  

We wish all of the team in Stavanger every success in the future."

The transaction is expected to complete in early 2020 and remains subject to written consent by the Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy, partner and third-party approvals.

The gross asset value of the interests being transferred (as per Cairn's Half-Year Report issued on 10 September 2019) was US$207.4m, the net asset value was US$80.1m. Capricorn Norge AS made a loss of US$6.5m for the period ending 30 June 2019.

Enquiries to:

Analysts / Investors

David Nisbet, Corporate Affairs                                                                       Tel: [phone]

Media 

Linda Bain Corporate Affairs                                                                            Tel: [phone]

Cairn Energy PLC

Patrick Handley, David Litterick                                                                       Tel: [phone]

Brunswick Group LLP      

About Cairn Energy PLC

Cairn is one of Europe's leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies and has been listed on the London Stock Exchange for 30 years.  Cairn has explored, discovered, developed and produced oil and gas in a variety of locations throughout the world as an operator and partner in all stages of the oil and gas lifecycle.  

Cairn's exploration activities have a geographical focus in North West Europe, West Africa and Latin America, underpinned by interests in production and development assets in the North Sea.  Cairn has its headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland supported by operational offices in London, Norway, Senegal and Mexico.

For further information on Cairn please see: www.cairnenergy.com

 

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