Finance News Oil & Gas

EnQuest agrees second lien loan of up to $150m

EnQuest plc has agreed a loan of up to $150 million, including $9m from its chief executive officer’s family, as a secured second lien instrument.

Deleveraging: of EnQuest’s balance sheet and optimisation of capital structure in response to the energy profits levy (stock photo)

DOUBLE A

Mature in July 2027, the loan ranks junior to the group’s existing $500m reserve based lending facility (RBL) of which the company had drawn $240m as at 31 July 2023.

The second lien loan will go towards “general corporate purposes” and is expected to provide an additional source of liquidity in advance of the October settlement of the 7% GBP retail bond, said EnQuest.

Within the loan, Double A Ltd owned by the extended family of EnQuest chief executive officer Amjad Bseisu, will lend $9m on the same terms and conditions as all other lending parties.

OPTIONALITY

Chief financial officer Salman Malik said: “We continue to de-lever our balance sheet and optimise our capital structure in response to the impact of the energy profits levy on available borrowing capacity under the RBL.

“We are pleased to have secured this source of financing to extend our debt maturities and build optionality within the balance sheet as we look to support accretive growth opportunities.

“We thank our lending syndicate for their enhanced support.”