Daily Newsletter

25 August 2023

Daily Newsletter

25 August 2023

Signal: Maurel & Prom purchases 100% of Assala Energy

The purchase includes Assala’s Gabon-focused subsidiaries and assets.

Alex Donaldson August 24 2023

The deal

French oil company Maurel & Prom (M&P) has announced the 100% purchase of Cayman Islands-registered oil company Assala Energy from private equity fund Carlyle Group.

The purchase includes Assala’s Gabon-focused subsidiaries and assets.

Why it matters

M&P already produce oil in Gabon and has done so for more than 15 years. The company already has three projects in the country, namely the 100%-owned exploratory Kari and Nyanga-Mayombe projects and the producing Ezanga project, of which the company owns 80% as an operator and 91.43% as an explorer.

In the first half of 2023, Assala produced over 40,000 barrels of oil per day (bpd) across its nine operational projects. Assala and M&P’s combined production in this first half of the deal will exceed 56,500bpd in Gabon alone upon the deal’s completion.

M&P will benefit from greater operational efficiencies and economies of scale as part of the purchase. In the deal, M&P will acquire Assala’s Gamba oil export terminal and associated pipeline infrastructure, allowing the former to control the transportation and distribution of its Gabonese production.

M&P CEO Olivier de Langavant stated: “The acquisition of Assala represents a step change for M&P. The combination of our portfolios provides the group with a large operated base of long-life, low-cost onshore assets offering long-term visibility and substantial development potential in a stable country where M&P has been operating for over 15 years.”

The purchase also strengthens M&P’s relationship with the Gabonese Government, which will increase its holding in Assala’s Assala Gabon subsidiary from 25% to 27.5% as part of the deal. The government will also hold the right to increase that stake by 12.5% within five years.

The details

M&P purchased 100% of Assala and Assala’s stakes in all its subsidiaries in exchange for $730m of cash, which is open to M&P using debt financing. The deal will be finalised by Q4 2023.

Our signals coverage is powered by GlobalData’s Thematic Engine, which tags millions of data items across six alternative datasets – patents, jobs, deals, company filings, social media mentions and news – to themes, sectors and companies. These signals enhance our predictive capabilities, helping us to identify the most disruptive threats across each of the sectors we cover and the companies best placed to succeed.

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