3i makes CH4 exit

Venture Production, an Aberdeen-based, independent producer of oil and gas, has acquired the entire share capital of CH4 Energy, a privately owned, UK- headquartered gas production company from its principal shareholder 3i Oil, Gas and Power. Coincidentally, 3i was also a founding shareholder in Venture where it was pivotal to the early development of the business until its IPO in 2002.

The consideration paid for CH4 consisted of part-cash (€123.5m), part equity (9.05 million newly issued Venture ordinary shares) and amounted to a value of €224m based on a Venture share price of £7.60. The cash consideration was satisfied from Venture’s existing bank facilities and included €16.5m of working capital. CH4’s operations are focused wholly on the southern North Sea gas basin and include a manned platform in the Dutch North Sea and an onshore operating base near Amsterdam.