PetroRecôncavo pays virtually BRL 1 billion for Maha belongings in Brazil

PetroRecôncavo has just purchased the assets in Brazil of Maha Energy, an oil company listed on the Stockholm Stock Exchange which has Starboard as a reference shareholder.

Petrorecôncavo is paying US$ 174 million (R$ 922 million at today’s exchange rate) for Campo de Tiê, in Bahia, and for Campo de Tartaruga, in Sergipe.

The two assets account for more than 90% of revenue at Maha, which also has operations in Oman, the Middle East and the United States.

Two weeks ago, Maha also announced that it should buy 15% of 3R Offshore, a subsidiary of 3R that brings together the Papa-Terra and Peroá fields (both offshore). The stake belongs to DBO, a holding of Norwegian businessmen.

These two fields now account for 40% of production and 20% of total reserves at 3R, which earned R$502 million in the third quarter.

For PetroRecôncavo, the purchase of Maha’s assets in Brazil brings relevant geographic synergies, since it has a large operation in the Northeast, especially after the company buys the Bahia-Terra Complex, which is under negotiation with Petrobras.

This synergy will allow PetroRecôncavo to optimize the use of resources and reduce its operating costs.

For Maha, the transaction positions the company to initiate an aggressive M&A strategy. After the sale, the company will have almost BRL 1 billion in cash, in addition to a 15% stake in 3R Offshore and its assets in Oman and the United States.

The idea of ​​CEO Paulo Mendonça – the former chairman of 3R who took charge of Maha in November – is to buy stakes in assets of oil companies that are in need of fundingsaid a source close to the company.

“They want to make opportunistic transactions. There are many companies in need of money to be able to do what they capex necessary for the projects.”

Maha, which is worth around R$600 million on the Stockholm Stock Exchange, is also considering going public in Brazil. This, however, should only happen further ahead, and probably in a process of dual listing.

Starboard owns about 20% of Maha’s capital. Another major shareholder is BTG Pactual, which owns around 5% of the company and lent another US$50 million to Maha.

Source: Brazil Journal