KrisEnergy to Raise Up to $203 Million in Singapore IPO

KrisEnergy Ltd, backed by Keppel Corp Ltd and private equity firm First Reserve, said it would raise up to $203.6 million by listing its shares in Singapore, in a sign of improving investor sentiment for fund-raising in the city-state.

KrisEnergy's IPO comes just days after Overseas Union Enterprise Ltd and media group Singapore Press Ltd separately announced plans to list REITs.

KrisEnergy, an oil and gas explorer which focuses on Southeast Asia, is selling 151.99 million shares and an additional 94.16 million shares to cornerstone investors at S$1.10 per share. The company plans to raise gross proceeds of S$270.8 million, it said.

After the initial public offering, First Reserve will own a stake of 48.1 percent and Keppel Corp 31.4 percent of the company, the prospectus said.

KrisEnergy plans to use $85 million of the proceeds to bring six fields in Southeast Asia to post-production, and $30 million for working capital and leave the rest in reserves, Richard Lorentz, executive director of the company, told Reuters.

CLSA and Merrill Lynch are the joint bookrunners, OCBC and HSBC are the co-lead managers, and Pareto Securities is the co-manager of the issue. ($1 = 1.2615 Singapore dollars)

Reporting by Anshuman Daga and Rujun Shen; Editing by Jeremy Laurence (C) Reuters 2013.