Wireline Issue 47 Spring 2020

IOG's Core and Incremental assets around the Thames Pipeline infrastructure.

equity, they were more interested in buying the debt from the administrators and using that to get control of the company,” Hockey posits. This defence effort came just as IOG was preparing to raise £19 million in new equity from City backers, shareholders and management in April, which it did successfully. The proceeds were partly to fund the company through the selection process for a suitable farm-down partner, and specifically one that was able to fund its share of investment from its own balance sheet rather than by raising additional debt. CalEnergy Resources — a unit of Berkshire Hathaway, the conglomerate run by magnate Warren Buffett — emerged as a strong contender early on. “They were interested in increasing their position in the SNS so they were a logical party to bring into our competitive process,” Hockey explains. “They didn’t want to overpay for production, they were looking for a near-term production portfolio like this that they could invest in and that they could see healthy returns from in a reasonable time-frame, as well as lower-risk upside potential.”

"The portfolio was put together with the intent of re- using the pipeline and before anyone would believe us, we had to demonstrate it worked."

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