UK's Cairn Energy sells £230m worth of shares in Cairn India

Saturday, 30 June 2012 - 11:26am India News Bulletin Desk

Edinburgh-based oil and gas exploration company, Cairn Energy is selling $360m (£229.5m) worth of shares in its Indian division.

The company has reached an agreement with US investment bank, Citi, to complete an on-market sale of 66,758,864 shares in Cairn India, representing approximately a 3.5% shareholding.

Following the sale, Cairn will retain about 18.3% shareholding in Cairn India.

Previously, in 2011, the company sold off a 40% stake in Cairn India to mining firm Vedanta, leaving it with 21.8% of the company.

The funds from the latest sale will be used to help fund Cairn’s stated strategy and provide greater operational flexibility, the company said.

Cairn Energy was one of the first UK companies to invest in the Indian oil and gas sector. While its interested in the Indian oil fields can be traced back to 1999, Cairn acquired a Rajasthan oil block in 2003.