North Sea independent oil and gas firm EnQuest said yesterday it had raised £145million through its retail bond issue.
The firm, thought to be the first oil and gas explorer to issue a retail bond, had originally hoped to raise £50million-plus.
Amjad Bseisu, chief executive of EnQuest, said: “We are delighted with the success of our retail bond, the first such bond on Orb (the London Stock Exchange’s order book for retail bonds) issued by an oil company.
“The bond has received a strong response from investors and the issue allows us to extend the tenor of our borrowings and will complement our already strong balance sheet.”
The bonds will pay fixed gross interest of 5.5% a year until 2022 and have a minimum initial subscription of £2,000.
The bonds are expected to be admitted to trading on the Stock Exchange’s regulated market and through Orb on Friday.