A new North Sea firm, created by the former bosses of Faroe Petroleum, has announced it is evaluating “a number” of potential acquisition targets.
Longboat Energy was co-founded by former Faroe chief executive Graham Stewart following its hostile takeover last year by Norway’s DNO.
After raising an initial £10million war chest and listing on the stock exchange in November, the firm said it is now leveraging its “excellent relationships” across the sector to access new deal opportunities.
Longboat said initial targets are expected to be prospects off Norway and the UK, or the wider European area, which are “producing and/or near producing assets”.
The firm added that the North Sea has been experiencing “an extended period of significant consolidation” and the assets it would be looking for would be “typically non-core” to existing large operators.
Longboat intends to focus on “near field exploration” with existing access to infrastructure.
Chief executive Helge Hammer said: “We are currently evaluating a number of deal opportunities which may prove to be suitable acquisition candidates.
“A key objective for any acquisition will be a focus on investments where we believe we can facilitate growth and unlock inherent value.
“We look forward to updating the market on this process at the appropriate time.”
Graham Stewart, chairman of Longboat, founded Faroe Petroleum in 1998 and remained in charge until January last year when DNO succeeded in its hostile takeover of the Aberdeen-based business.
Helge Hammer and chief financial officer of Longboat Jonathan Cooper are also formerly part of Faroe’s management team.
Mr Stewart pocketed £12.5m through DNO’s acquisition of his Faroe shares.
Earlier DNO released interim results showing a 29% year-on-year increase in production in 2019 due to the Faroe takeover and DNO’s assets in Kurdistan.
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