Navitas's British partner in Falkland Islands drilling prepares for Tel Aviv listing
British company Rockhopper is trading at a valuation of £845 million, and if it lists on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange, it will enter the TA-125 index.
British company Rockhopper Exploration, Navitas's partner in the Sea Lion oil drilling project near the Falkland Islands, is preparing to list its shares for trading in Israel. Rockhopper is trading at a valuation of £845 million, about NIS 3.4 billion, and if and when it lists its shares for trading in Tel Aviv, it is expected to enter the TA-125 index.
The company reported this over the weekend, alongside an announcement of a $200 million capital raise through a share offering. $180 million was raised in a private placement, followed by an open offering of an additional $20 million by the company, a move similar to a rights offering. 40% of Rockhopper's shares are held by Israelis. The hedge funds Noked, Brosh, and AON invested in its first raise a year ago, when it raised $140 million, and also in the current raise. Calcalist has learned that four Israeli institutional investors - Clal, Harel, Phoenix, and Meitav - accounted for most of the investment in the current raise.
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Rockhopper's rig in the Sea Lion oil drilling project near the Falkland Islands.
(Photo: Shutterstock)
Rockhopper holds 35% of Sea Lion and Navitas 65%, of a discovery considered the fourth-largest in the world, regarding which an investment decision has not yet been made. The cost of Sea Lion's initial phase is about $2.05 billion, and it is expected to yield an output of 420 million barrels of oil.
Navitas, controlled by Gideon Tadmor, and Rockhopper are to invest $790 million in the project from equity, with the remainder financed by bank loans. Rockhopper transferred 65% of the rights in the project to Navitas in January 2022 and agreed that Navitas would be the project's operator. Navitas, which entered after $1.3 billion had already been invested in the project, committed in return to finance Rockhopper's share of the equity component of the project's first phase, which stands at $102 million.
The Sea Lion holding is Rockhopper's only asset, and for the Israeli institutional investors holding its shares, this will be direct exposure to the project rather than exposure through Navitas, which has additional projects. The Israeli institutional investors led to the appointment of Barak Mashraki, former CEO of Delek Petroleum, as a director about two months ago, and can pass almost any resolution at the company, which operates without a controlling shareholder, by calling a shareholder meeting.
