Australia's CHAMP PE seeks London listing for Shelf Drilling

AVCJ understands that several bourses were considered for the IPO - Shelf is headquartered in Dubai and has locations in Southeast Asia, India, West Africa, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Italy - but it was decided that London offered the best combination in terms of valuation and analyst coverage of the sector.

CHAMP, Castle Harlan and Lime Rock formed Shelf in September 2012, putting in $1.05 billion to finance the acquisition of 38 shallow-water drilling rigs, one swamp barge and associated operations from Transocean. Approximately 3,500 employees also transferred to Shelf, and the company management was formerly largely from Transocean's senior leadership team.

Shelf's customer base includes Chevron, ExxonMobil, ONGC, Perenco, Petrofac, Saudi Aramco and Total.

Nat Childres, managing director and head of CHAMP's Singapore office, told the AVCJ Australia & New Zealand Forum last week that Shelf has already delivered "a very, very strong financial return."

This investment was the first CHAMP completed out of its Singapore office. While Southeast Asia is only one of Shelf's geographies of focus, the region's offshore oil and gas production and exploration industry has seen significant investment in recent years.

CHAMP's second investment in the region, Singapore-based shipping services provider Miclyn Express Offshore, follows a similar theme. The company - in which CHAMP bought a minority stake in 2012 before joining with Headland Capital Partners to complete a full acquisition last year - works closely with Chevron in the Gulf of Thailand, carrying people and supplies to and from rigs.

Childres noted that CHAMP's investments in Southeast Asia are both examples of the private equity firm sticking to industries, and multinational customers, with which it is familiar.

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