Citadel Capital Buys $534mn of Platform Company NOPC’s Debts

Transaction may allow upstream oil and gas company National Oil Production Company to improve its economic viability, potentially opens door to recouping of part of Citadel Capital’s investment in fully written-down platform.

Citadel Capital (CCAP.CA), the leading investment company in Africa and the Middle East, reported today that it has signed agreements that will see it acquire c. USD 534 million in debt extended by select international lenders to National Oil Production Company S.A.E. (“NOPC”) for a total consideration of USD 60 million. Closing is expected in the second quarter of this year.

The transaction aims to restructure NOPC’s debt position to allow the company to regain its footing and improve its economic viability, which may potentially allow Citadel Capital to recoup a portion of its investments in NOPC, the value of which is fully written-down on Citadel Capital’s consolidated financial statements.

Citadel Capital effectively owns 14.86% of NOPC, a Cairo-based upstream oil and gas exploration and production company. In September 2007, NOPC acquired 100% of Canada’s Calgary-based Rally Energy for US$ 868 million. The company has a 100% operating interest in the Issaran heavy oil field, an onshore asset in the Gulf of Suez, and a 30% stake in the Safed Koh block in Pakistan’s Punjab Province, where it is participating in the development of a natural gas discovery.

The agreement comes in the context of Citadel Capital’s ongoing transformation into an investment company that will own majority stakes in most of its core platform companies in five core industries: energy, transportation, agrifoods, mining and cement.

A program to divest non-core investments will continue over the coming three or more years.