By Posted 10 Janeiro, 2025 In Galp, Mergers and Acquisitions, News
At a time when Portuguese oil and gas company Galp has seen four CEOs come and go since principal shareholder Paula Amorim joined the board of directors, and with business growing in Namibia and Brazil, Galp could be the target of a potential investor or even buyer according to the Royal Bank of Canada.
“Galp’s strategy is well defined after a recent focus on its offshore oil exploration off the coast of Namibia and Brazil making Galp attractive for a potential buyer.
“The legacy of CEO Filipe Silva had been to concentrate on energy transition, simplifying a low carbon strategy while rationalising its upstream portfolio by selling assets in Angola and Mozambique”, said Biraj Borkhataria, a global energy transition analyst for RBC Europe in a research note seen by business daily Jornal de Negócios.
In February, 2023, the company agreed the sale of upstream assets in Angola to Angolan oil company Somoil for US$830 million (€777 million).
In May last year, Galp sold its stake in Mozambique to Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC) in a bid to follow a disciplined Capex strategy.
According to Galp, its current upstream business includes projects in different phases of maturity, including promising assets in Namibia (where it intends to sell a 40% share) and São Tomé e Príncipe, as well as one of the greatest discoveries of petroleum and natural gas in recent decades in the Santos Basin off Brazil.
“The exit of CEO Filipe Silva is likely to fuel expectations of a merger and acquisition in our opinion and we continue to see CVX (Chevron) as the most logical buyer of Galp,” said Biraj Borkhataria.
Galp told Negócios that it would not “comment on market speculation or the performance of its shares”.