Private equity firm, Warburg Pincus has agreed to invest up to $600 million in Delonex Energy Ltd, a company led by Rahul Dhir, once the face of Cairn India.

London headquartered Delonex, is a new energy exploration and production entity focused on Central and East Africa.

This investment is being done through affiliates of Warburg Pincus.

Dhir commented, “There is significant, under explored resource potential in Central and East Africa, and our team has the experience, technology and capital to unlock these hydrocarbon resources and create value for our host governments.”

According to Delonex, the key strategic areas where it is focussed include the East African Continental Rift System, which extends from the Red Sea through Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania to Mozambique; the Central African Rift System from Chad to South Sudan, and the coastal margins of East Africa. Delonex Energy plans on accessing opportunities in these areas through farm-in and direct awards from host governments.

Dhir was recently an Executive-In-Residence at Warburg Pincus, where he worked in close collaboration with the firm over the past several months to formulate Delonex’s business plan. At Delonex, Dhir, CEO, is joined by David Ginger, as Executive Director of Exploration and Subsurface, who formerly led Cairn India’s exploration efforts in the Indian sub-Continent.

‘Disciplined execution’

Somit Varma, Managing Director, Warburg Pincus, said that the Delonex management team brings with itself a strong focus on disciplined execution and low-cost operations. Warburg Pincus LLC is a leading global private equity firm with more than $40 billion in assets under management.

For more than two decades, the firm’s energy group has provided over $6 billion of equity for companies around the world involved in oil and gas exploration and production, midstream, power generation, oilfield technology and related-services, and alternative energy development.

richa.mishra@thehindu.co.in

Related Topics