Ithaca Energy looks set to bring some much-needed relief to London stock markets as it priced its float at up to £3.1bn and said demand for shares had been strong.
The North Sea oil and gas group will be London’s largest listing this year by some distance.
Interest in the North Sea is sky-high due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and the West's scramble to find safer and more secure sources of hydrocarbons.
Ithaca shares are being offered at 250p to 310p giving a market value range of between £2.5bn to £3.1bn.
The company was bought by Israeli group Dekel in 2017 for US$646mln but has since bulked up considerably with other North Sea deals.
Production in the first half of 2022 was around 66,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed).
The company is taking advantage of a change to stock exchange rules last year that reduced the free float requirement to 10% from 25%.
Ithaca will have around 12% of its shares in public hands, with Dekel maintaining a sizeable stake and remaining in control.
Trading in the shares is scheduled to start on November 9, 2022, with proceeds of the new share sale earmarked to reduce Ithaca's debt.