WSJ: BG Group's QGC Banks $78.6 Million for Senex Energy Stake

By Gillian Tan

Of The Wall Street Journal

Oil major BG Group's wholly-owned subsidiary QGC has sold its 8% stake in Australia's Senex Energy for 75.4 million Australian dollars (US$78.6 million), the company advised the Australian Securities Exchange Tuesday.

QGC sold 73.9 million shares at A$1.02 a share via an institutional bookbuild underwritten by RBS Morgans.

The trade was executed at a 9.1% premium to Monday's volume-weighted average price, or VWAP.

"We appreciate the strong support we have enjoyed from BG Group," Senex managing director Ian Davies said in a statement.

Through QGC, BG Group intends to produce up to 8.5 million tonnes of liquefied natural gas, or LNG, from its Queensland Curtis project in Gladstone.

Senex and BG Group will remain joint-venture partners in two coal-seam-gas tenements in the Surat Basin.

Senex shares fell 6.6% to A$1.06 in early trade, giving the energy explorer a market cap of A$979 million. In 2012, the stock is 67.7% higher, visibly outperforming the benchmark S&P/ASX 200 index, which has added 8.7%.

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By Gillian Tan of The Wall Street Journal; [phone]; [e-mail]