Trade sale exit for Siccar Point private equity backers

Israeli-owned UK independent Ithaca swoops for UKCS peer

Private equity firms Blackstone and Bluewater have found the answer to how to exit their investment in UK continental shelf (UKCS) producer Siccar Point Energy: a trade sale to Ithaca Energy. The UKCS producer, owned by Israel’s Delek Drillling, will pay $1.1bn upfront and up to $360mn in contingencies dependent on future developments and commodity prices. The deal represents a second transaction in thirteen months where UKCS private equity investors have found the way out through selling their vehicle to a peer in the basin. Hong Kong-headquartered Kerogen struck an agreement to sell Zennor Petroleum to Neo Energy in March last year—Neo itself is backed by Norwegian private equity firm Hite