It's emerged that Lord Browne, former BP (BP.) chief and current chairman of shale-gas explorer Cuadrilla, is among a group of industry figures linked to a planned £1.5bn flotation of an energy fund backed by US private equity group Riverstone Holdings.
It's anticipated that the investment vehicle will generate around £950m through third-party investors at an initial public offering (IPO) expected at the tail-end of October, while Lord Browne, Riverstone (of which he is a partner) and five other cornerstone investors are committed to investing another £550m in aggregate.
Lord Browne will join the likes of former BG Group (BG.) chairman Sir Robert Wilson on the board of the newly formed Riverstone Energy. Their expertise will be utilised to identify mid-sized companies in the energy sector that present a viable investment option.
The Riverstone flotation comes ahead of the Royal Mail's planned £1.2bn float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), and underscores recent research by Dealogic that shows IPOs have already generated £4.5bn in the UK this year, representing an eight-fold increase over the same point in 2012.
