Carlyle Group Buys Cepsa Stake

The Carlyle Group signed a deal April 8 to buy a 30-40% stake in Compania Espanola de Petroleos (Cespa) from Mubadala Investment Company.

US-based investment firm Carlyle will buy the stake based on an overall valuation of $12bn for Cepsa. Abu-Dhabi sovereign wealth vehicle Mubadala noted in a statement that it will remain the majority shareholder in Europe’s largest privately-owned integrated oil & gas company.

The transaction is subject to customary regulatory approvals and is expected to close by the end of 2019. The Financial Times reports that the buyer will pay $3.6bn for a 30% holding, with an option to increase its interest to 40%.

“At completion of the transaction, both parties’ final shareholding stakes will be confirmed,” Mubadala’s statement reads.

“The agreement marks the successful conclusion of a proactive dual-track process to bring in new partners,” it continues. The fund scrapped a planned IPO of a 25% stake in Cepsa in October 2018 without offering a reason.

Cepsa was acquired by Abu Dhabi state IPIC in 2011; the latter was merged into Mubadala in 2017. The Spanish subsidiary has upstream, refining and chemicals interests and is also an active gas marketer. It is particularly active upstream in Algeria where it and Total produced first gas at the 1.8bn m3/yr Timimoun field in February 2018 and have since been awarded additional nearby acreage.

“We are pleased to have reached agreement with Carlyle and to have them partner with us as shareholders in Cepsa. Carlyle is an established, respected and experienced investor with significant assets under management in the global energy sector,” said Mubadala CEO for petroleum & petrochemicals Musabbeh Al Kaabi.