Igor Makarov takes major stake in Calgary natural gas producer Spartan Delta
CALGARY — Billionaire Russian oligarch Igor Makarov is the largest shareholder in fast-growing Spartan Delta Corp., according to regulatory filings by the Calgary-based oil and gas company.
On Monday, Spartan Delta’s regulatory filings revealed
Makarov’s Geneva, Switzerland-based ARETI Energy S.A. has taken a 21 per cent
stake in Spartan Delta, acquiring roughly 23.7 million shares in the natural
gas producer. The development follows weeks of speculation that major Russian
investors are looking for deals in the Canadian oilpatch.
After the Russian investor’s stake was revealed Monday, a
Tuesday filing on the System For Electronic Disclosures by Insiders (SEDI)
showed Makarov sold 164,683 Spartan Delta shares at an average price of $3.83
per share for proceeds of $631,411, leaving him in control of 20.64 per cent of
Spartan Delta shares. The shares were due to be transferred to Peter Hornbach
and AB-Holding GmbH of Annweiler, Germany.
Atlanta-based hedge fund GMT Capital is the second largest
institutional shareholders with a 7 per cent stake, while Spartan Delta
president and CEO Fotis Kalantzis and executive chair Richard McHardy each own
roughly 3 per cent of the company, according to Bloomberg data.
ARETI did not respond to a request for comment, but the
company’s website states that it is “focused on investments in the oil and gas
sector,” as well as power supply, real-estate development and food product manufacturing
and delivery. Spartan Delta did not respond to a request for comment.
The potential for Russian investment in the Canadian oil and
gas sector has become a topic of gossip in the Calgary oilpatch, which has seen
an exodus of international companies from Western Europe including Norway’s
Equinor SA and France’s Total SA in recent years.
On Feb. 5, a published-then-retracted Cormark Securities
Ltd. research note predicted Moscow-based Lukoil PJSC was in talks to buy a
major stake in privately held Calgary-based Velvet Energy Ltd. from the Canada
Pension Plan Investment Board and Warburg Pincus LLC of New York.
An official from CPPIB declined to comment on the rumoured
transaction at the time, calling it speculation. No transaction has been
announced since the retracted research note.
Spartan Delta has grown quickly by acquiring distressed
natural gas producing assets over the past year, including its $87-million
purchase of insolvent Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.’s assets in April 2020.
The deal transformed Spartan Delta, previously known as
Return Energy Inc., from a company with 200 barrels of oil equivalent
production per day into a 25,000 boed producer overnight and the company’s
shares are up 7,840 per cent over the past year, with the majority of that jump
coming when the deal was approved in June 2020.
Since the Bellatrix acquisition, Spartan Delta has struck
more recent deals to buy Calgary-based Cequence Energy Ltd and Inception
Exploration Ltd.
Makarov, whose net worth Forbes estimates at US$2.1 billion,
was the controlling shareholder in Inception and accepted Spartan Delta’s
all-share offer for the company.
Spartan Delta shares rose 3 per cent Wednesday, or 12 cents,
to $4.02 each on the Toronto Stock Exchange — putting the total value of
Makarov’s investment, through ARETI, in Spartan Delta at $94.5 million.
ARETI appears to be an anagram of Itera Oil and Gas Company,
which was founded by Makarov in 1992 to supply natural gas from Turkmenistan,
where Makarov was born, to former USSR countries and Eastern Europe. The
company grew to become the largest privately held oil and gas company in Russia
until its sale to state-owned Rosneft Oil Co. in 2013.
Makarov, who was once part of the USSR’s national cycling
team, rebranded his remaining companies as ARETI in 2015 and now has business
interests in Russia, Switzerland, the U.S. and the Middle East, in addition to
Canada.
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