Athabasca Oil Sands, the Canadian oil sands exploration firm, said it plans to sell shares in an initial public offering to raise cash for projects in the oil sands region. The company recently raised $1.8 billion by selling stakes in two oil sands projects to PetroChina (PTR). No date or price has been set for Athabascas' IPO.
Athabasca declined to comment on the IPO. The company is believed hold 7.1 billion barrels of oil reserves in the oil sands region. In a deal that closed on February 10, Athabasca agreed to sell majority stakes in the proposed MacKay River and Dover oil sands projects, properties that could eventually produce as much as 500,000 barrels per day, to PetroChina, according to Reuters.
Before the IPO, Athabasca plans to distribute about $1.3 billion to shareholders in the form of a special dividend. The IPO will be managed by Morgan Stanley Canada, GMP Securities, FirstEnergy Capital Corp and others, Reuters reported.
Sources familiar with the deal are saying that Athabasca is hoping to raise about $715 million from the IPO by pricing the shares at $15-$17, but those details were not confirmed by the company. Prior to the IPO, Athabasca has 313.3 million shares, which assumes the exercise of purchase warrants, according to the IPO filing.
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