Tshuva’s Delek unit inks deal for Eni’s UK oil and gas fields in North Sea
Ithaca Energy says the combination deal worth about $938 million will turn the oil and gas exploration company into one of the North Sea’s largest producers
Sharon Wrobel is a tech reporter for The Times of Israel.
Ithaca Energy, an oil and gas exploration company controlled by Yitzhak Tshuva’s Delek Group, has secured an agreement to snap up almost all of Eni’s British oil and gas fields in a share-based deal worth about £754 million ($938 million).
As part of the deal, the Italian energy group will merge almost all of its United Kingdom-based oil and gas assets in the North Sea in exchange for a stake in the enlarged issued share capital of Ithaca, which is 89 percent owned by Tel Aviv-based Delek.
Following the combination transaction, Tshuva’s Delek will remain the controlling owner of Ithaca and will hold about 52.7% of the share capital, Eni UK will hold 37.3%, and 10% will be held by the public.
“The strategic move will turn Ithaca into a major player in the North Sea, with excellent assets and significant cash flow that is expected to grow as a result of the deal,” said Delek CEO Idan Wallace.
The combined group with 37 producing oil and gas assets is expected to generate more than 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day from the second half of 2024, with the potential to grow to 150,000 barrels of oil per day by the early 2030s, Ithaca said.
In 2023, the average production output from Ithaca’s assets amounted to 70,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
With the completion of the deal, Ithaca plans to pay an annual dividend of $500 million each in 2024 and in 2025 to shareholders. In 2023, the London Stock Exchange-listed firm paid an annual dividend of $400 million.
Founded in 2004, Ithaca has stakes in six of the 10 largest energy assets in the UK’s North Sea. It operates oil and gas assets in the northern and central North Sea, West of Shetland and Moray Firth areas of the British continental shelf.
Israeli energy conglomerate Delek Group, through its NewMed Energy unit, formerly Delek Drilling, holds a 45.3% working interest in the Leviathan gas field in the Mediterranean, Israel’s largest offshore gas reservoir. NewMed also owns a 30% stake in the Aphrodite natural gas field, offshore of Cyprus.
