Newcomer Petroleum Equity has made its first investment in a surprise $133million (£81million) deal for the North Sea operations of a struggling firm.
The private equity company, set up in 2012, is due to finalise the acquisition of ATP Oil & Gas UK in February through its Alpha Petroleum subsidiary – including the takeover of four producing gas fields, two development reserves and operatorship of a number of North Sea fields.
Texas-based ATP Oil & Gas had filed for bankruptcy protection in late 2012 and put its UK subsidiary on the market to address a multi-billion dollar insolvency.
The points of focus in the acquisition were the Blythe and Skipper projects in the North Sea, collectively containing up to 32million barrels of oil equivalent, where ATP was the operator with a 50% interest.
“This was a complex transaction due to the nature of the assets, the cross-border restructuring process and the need to acquire ATP UK from its insolvent parent company,” said Daniel Reis, co-funder of Petroleum Equity.
“We have been extremely impressed with how ATP’s management team has held the business together over this period and continued being a first class operator in the UKCS in face of the challenges.
“With our backing, ATP will have the financial and technical support required to execute its business plan, secure development authorisation and bring new fields to production.”
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