Standard Chartered Private Equity has acquired a 4.2 per cent stake in Salamander Energy, which over the last three years has built a south-east Asia-focused portfolio of oil and gas oppor
Standard Chartered Private Equity has acquired a 4.2 per cent stake in Salamander Energy, which over the last three years has built a south-east Asia-focused portfolio of oil and gas opportunities spanning production, development and frontier exploration, from one of the firm’s pre-IPO investors.
‘We are delighted to have become shareholders and to participate in Salamander’s growth,’ says the private equity firm’s Singapore-based managing director Alastair Morrison. ‘We have known the Salamander team for some time and respect the disciplined approach they have taken to building their business.
‘Upstream exploration and production requires investors who take a medium-term view of value growth and understand the risks. This deal sits well with our investment approach. Salamander operates in a core market for Standard Chartered, and with the bank’s established advisory, financing and hedging capabilities in the oil and gas sector, our equity team expects to be increasingly active in the oil sector in future.’
Since its establishment in 2005, Salamander has built a portfolio of production, development and exploration assets concentrating on Indonesia and the greater Mekong region encompassing Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. Its portfolio is underpinned by stable, long-life producing assets and includes interests in low-risk exploration and appraisal assets as well as higher risk frontier exploration opportunities.
Today, Salamander has approximately 42 million barrels of oil equivalent in proved plus probable reserves and is producing around 7,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day. It has more than 40 employees and has offices in London, Singapore, Jakarta, Ho Chi Minh City and Laos.
Salamander is also developing a track record in M&A, executing asset acquisitions at attractive prices to complement its technical skills and knowledge. Last year it extended its portfolio by acquiring production-sharing contracts in Vietnam and Laos and acquiring assets in the Philippines and East Kalimantan.
Standard Chartered Private Equity, the private equity arm of Standard Chartered Bank, invests in mid- to late-stage companies in need of expansion capital or acquisition finance, and in management buyouts, committing between USD20m and USD100m of equity in a single transaction.
