Prize Petroleum Eyes IPO Route
Prize Petroleum Company Ltd, which was in the process of inducting a private equity firm as a partner, is now examining the prospects of coming out with an initial public offering, the Chief Executive Officer, M.N. Prasad, said.
As the process of induction of equity partner has got delayed and certain issues to be sorted out, the company opted to go in for an IPO.
Prize Petroleum, which had appointed Grant Thornton as an independent advisor to induct a private equity company, was in discussions with three private equity firms for raising $50 million. The companies interested include IDFC Private Equity, Sabre Capital and Barings Inc.
Currently, the company’s paid-up equity capital stands at Rs. 20 crores. With the induction of equity partner, HPCL’s holding in the company would remain at 50% and the balance would be with financial institutions or the private equity firm. Prize Petroleum was looking at garnering around $50 million by offering 50% stake.
Prize Petroleum currently has four fields in Gujarat. Of these, three are marginal fields and one is an exploration field under the product-sharing contract with the Government.
