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Ian McLelland
1 February 2017

Shell/Chrysaor deal… raising the private equity stakes

PE continues to build its influence in the UK North Sea

While details on the Chrysaor/Shell deal are pretty thin on the ground, it clearly represents another material transaction for private-equity investors in the North Sea. Previous press reports were that Chrysaor was in competition with Ineos and fellow PE-backed Siccar Point to acquire the portfolio of assets that were put up for sale in late September 2016 as part of Shell’s $30bn divestment programme following the BG acquisition. As recently as October 2016, the for sale package was reported in the press to be valued at around $2.2bn so the $3.0bn that Chrysaor is paying (that could increase to $3.8bn) reflects a bullish view of the sector, albeit the asset package may have changed during negotiations and oil is $7-8bbl than at that time. In terms of materiality, the Chrysaor deal easily trumps Siccar Point’s acquisition of OMV UK announced in November 2016 for up to $1bn, further increasing the exposure of PE to the UK North Sea.

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