EnQuest (LSE:ENQ) shares jumped, risiing 19% to 22.75p, after the company announced a $833m acquisition of participating interests in Malaysian oil assets.
The sum comprises a $554m upfront payment on completion, $189m deferred across three equal $63m annual instalments. And it includes up to $90m contingent on final investment decisions on three Balingian projects.
The transaction is structured as three farm‑out agreements covering Package 1 (90% operated Balingian and 100% operated SK8), Package 2 (50% operated D35‑D21‑J4) and Package 3 (30% non‑operated PM6‑12), with Package 2 subject to a 30‑day pre‑emption right for existing PSC partners.
Its scale would be sufficient to qualify as a reverse takeover.
EnQuest sees it as a material expansion of its Malaysian footprint, leveraging existing infrastructure for capital‑efficient growth, lifting group production and the reserve base,
The new interests are expected to add 138 million barrels oil equivalent (mmboe) of 2P reserves and 208.3 MMboe of 2C resources, which would be an 85% and 46% uplift respectively.
It would also mean that around 69% of group production would be coming from Asia, reducing reliance on UK North Sea assets.
EnQuest forecasts enlarged group unit opex of $16/boe (c.35% reduction), average opex of c.$10/boe for the new interests, c.$170m of life‑of‑field capex for the new interests and pro forma revenue of c.$1,820m with EBITDA in excess of $900m on a 12‑month to 31 December 2025 basis.
