Nordic oil producer Lundin Energy is exploring a potential sale that could rank as one of the largest European oil and gas deals in years, people with knowledge of the matter said.
The Swedish company is working with an adviser to study strategic alternatives, the people said, asking not to be identified because the information is private.
Shares of Lundin Energy have risen nearly 50% in Stockholm trading this year, giving the company a market value of about 93 billion kronor ($10.2 billion).
Lundin Energy owns a stake in Norway’s giant Johan Sverdrup field, which is operated by Equinor ASA. It’s also the operator of the Edvard Grieg oil field on the Norwegian continental shelf.
The oil and gas industry has seen a flurry of dealmaking as energy majors seek to offload non-core assets and take advantage of improved prices.
Royal Dutch Shell agreed earlier this year to sell its Permian Basin assets in the US to ConocoPhillips for $9.5 billion, while BHP Group reached a deal to combine its oil and gas operations with Woodside Petroleum. Neptune Energy Group’s owners are considering a sale that could value the UK explorer at more than $5 billion, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Lundin Energy’s deliberations are ongoing, and there’s no certainty they will lead to a transaction, the people said. The company could also consider other options such as a merger or asset disposals, the people said.
An investment vehicle controlled by Lundin family trusts is the Swedish company’s biggest shareholder with a 33% stake, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. A representative for Lundin Energy declined to comment.
A sale of Lundin Energy would help its family owners get out of their largest oil and gas holding at a time when the industry’s future is increasingly fraught. The Lundins have a range of other interests in the resources sector, with major stakes in roughly a dozen listed companies including copper producer Lundin Mining Corp., precious metal miner Lundin Gold Inc., gold developer Bluestone Resources Inc. and explorer NGEx Minerals Ltd.
Earlier this month, Swedish prosecutors charged Lundin Energy Chairman Ian Lundin and one of the firm’s directors, Alex Schneiter, with alleged complicity in war crimes committed by the former Sudanese regime. The company said they strongly deny the charges, which relate to past operations in the country that Lundin Energy sold in 2003. The chairman plans not to stand for re-election at next year’s shareholder meeting.
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