M&A Activity • Dec 21, 2021
M&A Activity
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Aker BP acquires Lundin Energy's oil and gas business
The E&P company of the future
Reference is made to the merger announcement regarding the agreement with Lundin
Energy AB ("Lundin Energy") where Aker BP ASA ("Aker BP") is to acquire Lundin
Energy's oil and gas related activities, through a statutory merger, to create
the E&P company of the future. The company will be the largest listed E&P
company focused purely on the Norwegian Continental Shelf ("NCS"). The
transaction values the acquired assets to approximately NOK 125 billion.
The merger of Aker BP and Lundin Energy unites two highly successful E&P
companies which have both been instrumental in the development of the NCS for
more than a decade, to create the E&P company of the future.
The proposed combination has strategic, and value accretive benefits and the
combined company will be characterized by increased scale, world-class quality,
and high returns:
· High cash flow through the cycle with capacity to pay an increasing dividend
· Potential to realise operational synergies of up to USD 200 million per year
· Low operating costs and one of the lowest carbon intensities of any E&P
company
· Resource base of 2.7 billion barrels of oil equivalents with significant
growth potential
· Estimated production in 2022 above 400 mboepd
· An attractive pipeline of development projects with low break-evens with
potential to grow production above 500 mboepd by 2028
· Credit accretive through enhanced balance sheet resilience and increased
scale
· Ability to deploy digital technologies and alliance models to further
strengthen operations and further reducing the company's carbon footprint
Aker BP today also announces an increase in the current quarterly dividend by 14
percent to USD 0.475 per share from January 2022. It is further proposed that
the Combined Company will continue to pay this increased dividend, and has an
ambition to further increase this dividend by a minimum of 5% per annum from
2023 onwards at oil prices above 40 $/bbl.
Øyvind Eriksen, Karl Johnny Hersvik and David Tønne will continue to serve as
the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer and Chief
Financial Officer of Aker BP, respectively. Ashley Heppenstall is joining as a
new Lundin-nominated board member.
"We are now creating the E&P company of the future which will offer among the
lowest CO2 emissions, the lowest cost, high free cash flow and the most
attractive growth pipeline in the industry, with a high dividend capacity
combined with a strong Investment Grade credit rating. We know the Lundin
organisation well and we are convinced that we will make an even better Aker BP
together," said Karl Johnny Hersvik.
"In 2016 we created Aker BP together with BP when we combined Det norske and BP
Norge. We then shared a vision of a subsequent acquisition of Lundin Energy.
Today the vision has become a reality. We are grateful for the relationship with
BP and their significant contribution to the success of Aker BP. Now we are
welcoming Lundin family (through Nemesia) as fellow shareholders in Aker BP. We
are looking forward to a long-term collaboration with both BP and Lundin based
on a shared ambition of developing the E&P company of the future. The
shareholding in Aker BP is the most valuable asset in the Aker portfolio and
will continue to be a core part of our industrial holdings long term." said
Øyvind Eriksen, Chairman of Aker BP.
After the merger is completed, Aker BP will be jointly owned by Aker (21.2 per
cent), BP (15.9 per cent), Nemesia S.á.r.l ("Nemesia") (14.4 per cent), and
other Aker BP and Lundin Energy shareholders (48.6 per cent). The transaction
will be settled through a cash consideration of USD 2.22 billion and a shares
consideration of 271.91 million new shares issued from Aker BP and distributed
to the Lundin Energy AB shareholders. Aker, BP and Nemesia have undertaken a 6
-month lock-up on their Aker BP shares from closing and give irrevocable voting
undertakings in favour of the merger.
Investor contacts:
Kjetil Bakken, VP Corporate Finance and Investor Relations, tel.: +47 91 889 889
Jørgen Torstensen, Senior IR Professional, tel.: +47 95 48 37 07
Media contacts:
Tore Langballe, VP Communications, tel.: +47 907 77 841
Ole-Johan Faret, Press Spokesman, tel.: +47 402 24 217
About Aker BP:
Aker BP is an independent E&P company with exploration, development and
production activities on the Norwegian Continental Shelf. Aker BP is the
operator of Alvheim, Ivar Aasen, Skarv, Valhall, Hod, Ula and Tambar. The
company is also a partner in the Johan Sverdrup field. Aker BP is headquartered
at Fornebu, Norway, and is listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange under the ticker
'AKRBP'. More about Aker BP at www.akerbp.com.
About Lundin Energy:
Lundin Energy is an experienced Nordic oil and gas company that explores for,
develops and produces resources economically, efficiently and responsibly. We
focus on value creation for our shareholders and wider stakeholders through
three strategic pillars: Resilience, Sustainability and Growth. Our high
quality, low cost assets mean we are resilient to oil price volatility, and our
organic growth strategy, combined with our sustainable approach and commitment
to decarbonisation, firmly establishes our leadership role in a lower carbon
energy future. (Nasdaq Stockholm: LUNE). For more information, please visit us
at www.lundin-energy.com.
This information is subject to disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12
of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act.
Disclaimers:
This press release has been published in Swedish and English. In the event of
any discrepancy in content between the two language versions, the English
version shall prevail. For the purposes of this disclaimer, "this press release"
means this document, its contents or any part of them, any oral presentation,
any question and answer session and any written or oral materials discussed or
distributed therein. This communication does not constitute notice to an
Extraordinary general meeting or a merger document, nor shall it constitute an
offer to sell or the solicitation or invitation of any offer to buy, acquire or
subscribe for, any securities or an inducement to enter into investment
activity, nor shall there be any sale of securities in any jurisdiction in which
such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to registration or
qualification under the securities laws of any such jurisdiction. Any decision
with respect to the proposed statutory merger of Aker BP ("Aker BP") and Lundin
Energy ("Lundin Energy") in accordance with the Norwegian Companies Act and the
Swedish Companies Act (the "Merger") should be made solely on the basis of
information to be contained in the actual notices to the Extraordinary general
meetings of Aker BP and Lundin Energy, as applicable, and the merger document
related to the Merger as well as on an independent analysis of the information
contained therein. You should consult the merger document, which will be
available prior to the Extraordinary general meeting of shareholders at which
the matters set out herein will be subject to vote, for more complete
information about the Merger. You should also perform an independent analysis of
the information contained therein and the merger document when making any
investment decision.
This press release contains forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward
-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions
and other factors because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that
will occur in the future whether or not outside the control of each respective
company or the combined company. Such factors may cause actual results,
performance or developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied
by such forward-looking statements. Although managements of each respective
company believe that their expectations reflected in the forward-looking
statements are reasonable based on information currently available to them, no
assurance is given that such forward-looking statements will prove to have been
correct. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. They
speak only as at the date of this press release and neither Aker BP nor Lundin
Energy undertakes any obligation to update these forward-looking statements.
Past performance of Aker BP and Lundin Energy does not guarantee or predict
future performance of the combined company. Moreover, Aker BP, Lundin Energy and
their respective affiliates and their respective officers, employees and agents
do not undertake any obligation to review, update or confirm expectations or
estimates or to release any revisions to any forward-looking statements to
reflect events that occur or circumstances that arise in relation to the content
of the presentation. Additionally, there can be no certainty that the Merger
will be completed in the manner and timeframe described in this press release,
or at all.
Excluded jurisdictions
The offer relating to the Merger is not being made, directly or indirectly, in
or into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa
Switzerland, or the United States (the "Excluded Jurisdictions") or in any other
jurisdiction where such offer pursuant to legislation and regulations in such
relevant jurisdiction would be prohibited by applicable law, by use of mail or
any other communication means or instrumentality (including, without limitation,
facsimile transmission, electronic mail, telex, telephone and the Internet) of
interstate or foreign commerce, or of any facility of national securities
exchange or other trading venue, of the Excluded Jurisdictions, and the offer
relating to the Merger cannot be accepted by any such use or by such means,
instrumentality or facility of, in or from, the Excluded Jurisdictions.
Accordingly, this press release or any documentation relating to the Offer are
not being and should not be sent, mailed or otherwise distributed or forwarded
in or into the Excluded Jurisdictions.
This press release is not being, and must not be, sent to shareholders with
registered addresses in the Excluded Jurisdictions. Banks, brokers, dealers and
other nominees holding shares for persons in the Excluded Jurisdictions must not
forward this press release or any other document received in connection with the
Merger to such persons.
This press release is not an offer of Aker BP shares to be issued in the merger
is approved or any solicitation of votes in connection with the merger. The
Shares have not been and will not be registered under the U.S. Securities Act of
1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered, sold or
delivered within or into the United States, except pursuant to an applicable
exemption of, or in a transaction not subject to, the Securities Act.
This press release does not constitute an offer of or an invitation by or on
behalf of, Aker BP or Lundin Energy, or any other person, to purchase any
securities.
The offer relating to the Merger and the information and documents contained in
this press release are not being made and have not been approved by an
authorized person for the purposes of section 21 of the UK Financial Services
and Markets Act 2000 (the "FSMA"). Accordingly, the information and documents
contained in this press release are not being distributed to, and must not be
passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom. The communication of the
information and documents contained in this press release is exempt from the
restriction on financial promotions under section 21 of the FSMA on the basis
that it is a communication by or on behalf of a body corporate which relates to
a transaction to acquire day to day control of the affairs of a body corporate;
or to acquire 50 per cent or more of the voting shares in a body corporate,
within article 62 of the UK Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial
Promotion) Order 2005.
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