CLIQ Energy plans to buy oil & gas assets in region

CLIQ Energy Bhd, which aims to raise up to RM500 million next month, plans to buy as many as three oil and gas (O&G) assets within the Asia-Oceanea region by 2016.

Chairman Datuk Azmi Mohd Ali told Business Times the company will buy small-and medium-sized O&G fields with relatively low to moderate risks, and the rights to develop and produce these fields.

"We are eyeing pre-development assets, and producing assets that have gone through exploration. We are not ruling out buying a stake in an O&G company that owns such assets," Azmi said.

Azmi, a corporate lawyer and also a board member of Sime Darby Bhd and CCM Bhd, said the company's priority is to find oil rather than capital gain.

"There is no other company in Malaysia besides Petronas that specialises in exploration, development and production of oil and gas resources. We aim to grow our business and eventually become a smaller version of Petronas," he said.

CLIQ Energy is expected to be listed on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia in early April, as a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). It is offering up to 657 million shares at 75 sen apiece.

SPAC is a shell company raising funds from the capital market for the purpose of acquiring businesses covering various industries. A SPAC has to meet a few requirements, including raising a minimum of RM150 million via its initial public offering (IPO); and placing 90 per cent of proceeds in a trust account managed by a custodian.

For CLIQ Energy, its trust account is managed by Deutsche Trustees Malaysia Bhd. This means the funds to buy qualifying assets can only be released by the trustees, after shareholders' approval.

The company would have to buy a qualifying asset within three years after its IPO, failing which the SPAC will be delisted from the local bourse.

"Ours is basically a unique venture capital structure where the public can participate by buying shares in the company. The protection to the investing public is that only 10 per cent of the money will be used as our operating expenditure. We are quite bullish on the listing and the plans going forward," Azmi said.

Azmi said the strength in CLIQ Energy is its management team, who comes from Sime Darby, Shell, Petronas Carigali, Esso, SAAG, Perisai and Santos.