Canadian oil company Sterling Resources will sell its Romanian business to Carlyle International Energy Partners, an affiliate of The Carlyle Group, the company has announced.

The transaction, which includes oil drill  license blocks 13 Pelican, 15 Midia, 25 Luceafarul and 27 Muridava, structured as a corporate sale of the company’s wholly-owned subsidiary Midia Resources SRL,  will finalize around the end of the second quarter of 2015.

CIEP will pay USD 42.5 million to Sterling when the transaction is completed, prior to any Romanian tax liabilities.

Sterling has decided to sell its Romanian business in order to focus its financial resources in the UK North Sea.

“The sale will leave Sterling as a predominantly UK business focused on the high quality Breagh field, plus contingent resources with very minor ongoing costs in the Netherlands.  We expect that this refocusing and simplification of our portfolio will make the company a more attractive candidate for a merger or corporate sale, benefitting all stakeholders,” said Jake Ulrich, Sterling’s Chief Executive Officer.

Sterling holds a 65% operated interest in blocks 13 Pelican and 15 Midia, a 50% operated interest in block 25 Luceafarul, and a 40% non-operated interest in block 27 Muridava, all in the Romanian Black Sea.

Sterling is a Canadian-listed international oil and gas company with assets in the United Kingdom, Romania and the Netherlands.

The Carlyle Group is a global alternative asset manager with more than USD 194 billion of assets under management across 128 funds and 142 fund of funds vehicles.

Carlyle International Energy Partners has two main investment vehicles, according to its data: Varo Energy B.V and  Discover Exploration Limited, both acquired in 2013.

Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com