Ithaca mulls London IPO

UK North Sea-focused Ithaca Energy announced on October 18 it was considering an initial public offering (IPO) of its shares in London.

The subsidiary of Israeli energy group Delek said it planned to publish a registration document required for admittance to the market, and apply for admission of its ordinary shares to be premium-listed on the Official List of the Financial Conduct Authority and for trading on the main market for listed securities of the London stock exchange.

Recent media reports suggest that sale could raise as much as $1bn.

Delek has invested substantial capital in Ithaca since taking over the firm in 2017, helping the UK player deliver a 5.4 fold increase in its equity value between 2018 and the middle of this year.

Ithaca has become one of the UK's largest operators, through a number of significant acquisitions, including recently the purchase of UK assets from Japan's Marubeni and North Sea player Summit Energy, as well as the takeover of Siccar Point Energy. These deals landed the company stakes in six of the ten largest UK shelf fields, including Cambo and Rosebank.

"A London listing is the natural next step, allowing Ithaca Energy to flourish as an independent company with its own capital allocation policy and the potential to generate substantial value for all its shareholders," Delek CEO Idan Wallace said in a statement.

Ithaca itself will keep no net proceeds from the listing, as they will go to Delek. While shedding some interest in the company, Delek will remain the controlling shareholder.

Ithaca's overall portfolio comprises interests in 28 producing fields, of which it is the operator of eight. It has substantial reserves – 244mn barrels of oil equivalent in proven reserves and 302mn boe in best-estimate contingent resources. It produced 67,000 boe/day in the first half of the year, of which around 65% was oil and 35% gas. The company has a mid-term output target of 100,000 boe/d.