Tony Hayward nears £2.5bn oil purchase
FORMER BP chief executive Tony Hayward will imminently seal his return to the oil industry by buying into Turkey’s Genel Enerji, in a deal valuing the target at around £2.5bn, a source close to the matter said yesterday.
Vallares, an acquisition vehicle established by Hayward and financier Nat Rothschild, has agreed in principle to a tie-up with Genel Enerji, which owns oil fields in the semi-autonomous Kurdish region of Iraq, and is expected to announce a deal in the coming days.
The exact terms of the deal are unclear but it is expected to net Hayward and his Vallares co-founders tens of millions of pounds.
In June, Vallares raised £1.35bn from investors to target emerging-market oil assets.
The plan was to offer owners of oilfields a shortcut to a London Stock Exchange listing, thus enabling them to raise finance to fund the development of their assets.
Hayward, Rothschild and the other Vallares founders, are entitled to a 6.67 per cent stake in the enlarged group, following the completion of a deal, and this would be worth around $300m if Vallares buys all of Genel Enerji.
Hayward said he would be chief executive of any acquired company and has assembled a team of big names around him, including former deputy chief executive of BP and chairman of Petrofac, Rodney Chase.
The tie-up will need to be blessed by the Kurdish authorities.