Blackstone’s energy-focused private equity business and Blue Water Energy (BWE) have partnered to initially invest up to $1bn (€802.6m) in Mime Petroleum, a newly formed Norwegian oil firm.
Mime, an independent development and production company, was established earlier this year by BWE.
Focused on the Norwegian Continental Shelf (NCS), Mime plans to buy assets available on the NCS and pursue production optimisation, developments and near-field exploration opportunities.
Sverre Skogen, the chairman and CEO of Mime, said: “Whilst Blue Water Energy has provided strong strategic and financial support to date, this is now significantly enhanced in combination with Blackstone.
“There are a lot of high-quality opportunities on the NCS, and, with two of the foremost energy investors behind us, we are well positioned to take advantage of these.”
As part of the partnership, Mustafa M. Siddiqui, a senior managing director at Blackstone, and Kjell-Erik Østdahl, senior advisor at Blackstone, will join the board of Mime.
Siddiqui, said: “With $15bn of capital invested in the energy sector, we continue our track record of supporting top management teams with the growth capital and resources to build energy industry champions.
“We and BWE have enjoyed a successful partnership in the UK and we look forward to replicating that success in Norway.”
Graeme Sword, a partner of BWE nergy, said: “We are happy to partner with Blackstone again on building another leading E&P business.
“We want to provide our portfolio companies with the optimal shareholder base and we believe Blackstone is an aligned partner that shares our ambitions for Mime.”
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