Cairn raises £560m for half of its Indian stake

CAIRN Energy, the Edinburgh-based oil and gas explorer, has sold almost half of its remaining stake in the Indian firm it founded, raising $910 million (£560m).

It will use the proceeds from the sale of around 8 per cent of Cairn India to fund its ongoing capital requirements, including the development of discovered resources in the North Sea as well as exploration elsewhere.

Confirmation of the deal came yesterday just three months after Cairn sold about 3.5 per cent of the Indian business for $360m. It offloaded its controlling stake to mining giant Vedanta Resources in an $8.7bn deal last year, and how owns around 10 per cent of the company.

Chief executive Simon Thomson said: “We are now well positioned both financially and operationally to deliver on our existing high-quality portfolio of development and exploration projects.”

The group recently completed its £414m acquisition of London-based Nautical Petroleum, in a deal that will double its interest in the Catcher discovery – hailed as the biggest North Sea find since 2001 – to 30 per cent.