Private equity firms Blackstone and Warburg Pincus are looking at conducting an IPO of oil exploration business Kosmos, which would possibly value the business at about US$5bn.
Kosmos Energy’s Mahogany-1 exploration well discovered the Jubilee Field in Ghana’s deep waters, one of the largest oil finds in the last decade offshore West Africa.
Subsequently, the company has made three additional oil discoveries in Ghana. Kosmos and its partners are developing the Jubilee Field on an accelerated schedule, targeting first oil production in late 2010.
According to the Financial Times, Kosmos’ private equity owners are considering an IPO after a US$4bn sale of the company to ExxonMobil had to be canned because of people in Ghana opposing the acquisition.
Both Blackstone and Warburg Pincus hope that a listing will avoid any conflict as an IPO would not bring about a change in control of the business.
ACQ Magazine