Kuwait Energy Company plans IPO

Kuwait Energy Company is set to become the first privately held oil and gas producer in the nation to offer shares to the public with plans for an IPO.

Kuwait Energy, which is part of two consortiums holding rights to develop Iraqi gasfields, is planning a share sale on one or both of the London and Kuwait stock exchanges within the next nine months.

If the offering goes ahead, the company would become the first Kuwaiti oil and gas producer with shares available to the public for investment.

It would join just a handful of others based in the Middle East with publicly listed shares, including Sharjah's Dana Gas and the Abu Dhabi National Energy Company, or Taqa.

"Once listed, the company will become one of the few publicly available investment opportunities directly connecting investors to the Middle East's [oil and gas] exploration and production sector," said Kuwait Energy.
The company has hired JPMorgan as its financial adviser for the offering.

Kuwait Energy posted a net profit of US$7.7 million (Dh28.2m) for the third quarter of this year, down 23 per cent from the same period last year.

But revenue rose 48.5 per cent to $39.8m as the company boosted its output to 13,168 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) from 12,611 boepd and energy prices strengthened.

The company, founded in 2005, is planning its initial public offering (IPO) as it seeks to adjust its asset portfolio to reflect a tightening focus on the MENA region. It plans to reduce its holdings in Russia and Ukraine, despite establishing oil and gas production there.

At the same time, it is seeking to increase output from its core holdings in Egypt and investing in new ventures such as Iraqi gas development.

However,the Egyptian properties account for more than 60 per cent of the company's output, with another 21 per cent coming from Oman.

This month, Kuwait Energy held a 30.7 million Kuwaiti dinar (Dh400.5m) rights issue designed to raise the equivalent of at least $100m from its existing shareholders in advance of the planned public share offering.
The subscription period has been extended to November 4.

In the above article,  we said Kuwait Energy Company had held an initial public offering (IPO) this month with a subscription period ending on Sunday.  In fact, it was a rights issue, and the subscription period has been extended to November 4.