In July 2019, Energean Oil and Gas agreed to acquire Edison E&P, the oil and gas business of the Italian energy company
Energean Oil and Gas drops acquisition of Edison’s upstream assets in Algeria. (Credit: John R Perry from Pixabay)
Energean Oil and Gas has reached an agreement with Italy-based Edison under which the latter’s hydrocarbon assets in Algeria will be excluded from a previously announced transaction worth up to $850m.
In July 2019, the UK-based Energean Oil and Gas agreed to acquire Edison Exploration & Production (Edison E&P), the oil and gas business of the Italian energy company. The parties have now formally amended the then signed conditional sale and purchase agreement.
The amendment has been made to address the regulatory issues faced by the parties in Algeria. Energean Oil and Gas said that the parties faced certain difficulties in securing the consent for their transaction from the Algerian authorities regarding Edison E&P’s assets in Algeria.
To reflect the exclusion of the Algerian assets, an amount of nearly $150m has been deducted in the total consideration of the acquisition.
Edison E&P has been operating in Algeria since the late 1990s, with one of its assets being the Reggane Nord block in the Reggane basin located in the South-Western sector of the Algerian Sahara Desert.
Energean Oil and Gas is acquiring Edison E&P with a hope to become a top independent, gas-focused E&P company in the Mediterranean.
Energean Oil and Gas expects to wrap up the deal shortly
The company stated: “Energean is working to complete the acquisition of Edison E&P as soon as is possible in 2020, subject to the approval of its shareholders and the other relevant governments.”
In a follow-up deal signed in October 2019, Energean Oil and Gas agreed to divest the UK and Norwegian upstream assets of Edison E&P to Neptune Energy for up to $280m. Energean Oil and Gas took up the deal to focus on assets in the Mediterranean Sea by offloading non-core assets located elsewhere.
The company expects the sale of the UK and Norwegian subsidiaries of Edison E&P to be wrapped up as soon as reasonably practicable. The deal will be subject to closing of Energean Oil and Gas’ acquisition of Edison E&P along with other customary regulatory approvals.