Ex-Tullow CEO Joins Forces With Carlyle in New Africa Venture

(Bloomberg) -- Carlyle Group LP is partnering with Tullow Oil Plc former CEO Aidan Heavey and ex-CFO Tom Hickey to form a venture that will target up to $1 billion of acquisitions in sub-Saharan Africa.

Boru Energy will look for oil and gas assets “with significant commercialization potential” that are operated by other companies, Carlyle said in a statement. Heavey and Hickey will draw on their experience of Tullow Oil -- which gets a majority of its current revenue from Africa -- and initially focus on the continent’s west, a Carlyle spokesman said. Boru will not target riskier development projects, he added.

Heavey was the founder and chief executive officer of Tullow where he oversaw the company’s flagship discoveries in Ghana, among other countries. Hickey worked alongside him as chief financial officer from 2000 to 2008 and has remained in the industry since, according to the statement.

Funding for potential investments will come from Carlyle International Energy Partners LP, which also backs companies such as North Sea-focused Neptune Energy. Carlyle International Energy first invested in Africa in 2017, when a unit acquired Royal Dutch Shell Plc’s onshore assets in Gabon.

--With assistance from Charles Capel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Laura Hurst in London at lhurst3@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: James Herron at jherron9@bloomberg.net, Rakteem Katakey, Amanda Jordan

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