Mergers & Acquisitions
Mergers & Acquisitions Activity Today - 23/02/2012
This section provides a sample of today’s latest Mergers & Acquisitions activity, the full daily report is available free to our clients.
The British Gas owner is to acquire the Total non-operated portfolio of producing oil and gas assets (and associated infrastructure) in the Central North Sea (CNS).
The acquisition, worth $388m (£246m), is expected to add around 5% to Centrica's existing 2P (proven plus probable) reserves, an addition of 22m barrels of oil equivalents (36% gas, 64% oil).
The portfolio includes seven producing fields in three major areas - Greater Amrada, the Alba field and the Mungo and Monan cluster - and is expected to produce 9,300 barrels of oil equivalents per day.
"Today's announcement marks another step in the growth of our upstream oil and gas business," said Managing Director Mark Hanafin.
"This acquisition in the North Sea provides a good fit with our existing portfolio and strategy, bringing strong cash flow and adding value for Centrica. It underlines our commitment to invest where we see attractive opportunities, securing future energy supplies for the UK," he said.
It expects the purchase to add immediate cash flow and raise its scale in the CNS region. "The transaction will also help to maintain the mix of oil in its upstream portfolio," the firm said.
The agreement is subject to UK government approval and other closing conditions.
source sharecast
The world's largest interdealer broker, has acquired Singaporean shipbroking company Island Shipbrokers Pte Ltd for an undisclosed sum.
Its shipping arm, ICAP Shipping, has been involved with Island Shipbrokers since its inception and the synergy and working relationship between the two are said to be already "excellent".
Island Shipbrokers's core business is tanker chartering, sale and purchase, new building contracts and shipping projects. It has net asset of $2.4m and gross assets of $8.4m.
"Island Shipbrokers' extensive experience in the tanker chartering and sale and purchase markets will complement our existing London and Shanghai operations and strengthen ICAP Shipping's growth in the Asia region," said Shipping's Chief Executive Officer Henry Liddell.
"Island Shipbrokers is a leader in Asia and we are delighted to welcome such experienced professionals onboard," he said.
source sharecast
The FTSE 250 European industrial property firm, has offloaded a portfolio of five "non-core" UK industrial estates to Ignis Asset Management for £80.2m.
The sales represents a net initial yield of 6.3%, 7% including the benefit of rent top-ups and guarantees.
The disposal of the five estates is in line with the group's strategy announced in November 2011 to focus its UK multi-let industrial portfolio on London and the South East - "this disposal marks a positive step forward in the execution of these plans," the statement said.
The industrial estates - Trilogy in Fareham, Southern Cross Distribution Park in Southampton, Emersons Green in Bristol, Gatwick Gate in Crawley and Motor Park in Portsmouth - have a total lettable space of 74,734 square metres and is currently fully let.
"We continue to make good progress on our strategic objectives, which includes the reshaping of our portfolio to ensure that we hold the highest quality assets in the strongest markets," said Chief Investment Officer Phil Redding.
"With this disposal, our plans have taken a further, positive step forward following the recently-completed acquisition of the prime UKLF logistics warehouse units. The sale of these assets demonstrates that, despite the uncertain economic environment, investor demand for industrial assets remains resilient," he said.
source sharecast
The Commercial Property Trust (UKCPT) has spent £60.51m buying industrial park assets from SEGRO. The income from the properties totals £4.67m per year, representing a net initial yield of 7.34%.
The transaction will be financed primarily through the use the £150m credit facility that the firm agreed with Barclays Bank in May 2011.
The assets include Emerald Park East in Bristol, a modern industrial estate which generates £1.71m per year; Gatwick Gate in Crawley, yielding £1.11m per year and Motor Park in Portsmouth which generates £1.84m per year.
The Chairman, Christopher Hill, said of the deal: "This transaction fits well with our strategy of acquiring good quality assets that, particularly in these uncertain economic times, both complement our existing portfolio and offer strong, defensive income characteristics."
source sharecast
Mergers & Acquisitions - The full M & A Grapevine report would provide you with a business list, each week, of companies involved in Mergers & Acquisitions, detailing the changes that each company is experiencing. The contact details will be provided, including usually two or three Directors within each company. These will usually be Chief Executives, Finance Directors, Sales and Marketing Directors, Operations Directors or Human Resource Directors.
|
