To review dividend policy, near terms targets (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 20 Jun - London-based energy group Energean said it has signed a binding agreement to sell its portfolio in Egypt, Italy and Croatia to an entity controlled by Carlyle International Energy Partners for an enterprise value (EV) of up to 945 million dollars, or an over three time return since the portfolio was acquired in 2020.

The deal, which is expected to close by year end, will be immediately accretive to free cash flow. Energean expects sufficient cash proceeds at closing to repay in full the 450 million dollar PLC Corporate Bond and facilitate a special dividend of up to 200 million dollars.

In light of the transaction, Energean will undertake a review of its dividend policy and near-term targets and expects to redefine its dividend policy upon transaction closing.

The sale enables Energean to rationalise the portfolio and focus on its gas-weighted, gas-development strategy, underpinned by the Karish Field in Israel and recent farm-in to the Anchois field in Morocco.

It also allows to optimize the portfolio by divesting later life assets, removing over 60% of the group's decommissioning liabilities, and improving free cashflow generation in the short to medium-term.

Moving forward, Energean will maintain and seek to grow its footprint in the Mediterranean and look beyond this to the wider Europe, Middle East and Africa region, particularly where there is long-term policy support for gas and displacement of coal. It will also focus on creating a carbon storage hub in Greece and the wider Mediterranean region via its EnEarth subsidiary.

Post-closing, Energean's scope 1 and 2 emissions intensity will reduce by around 40%, accelerating its 2035 target by 10 years.

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(RADIOCOR) 20-06-24 09:28:52 (0184) 5 NNNN