Argent Energy Trust is finally a public company.
The firm first had dreams of going public a year ago, but those were dashed when markets soured. Then it came back with an ambitious $325-million deal this past May, but that too had to be reworked.
Argent finally settled on a smaller initial public offering last month, and the tradeoff worked, considering it closed its $212-million offering on Friday.
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In scaling back the IPO, Argent had to give up on an asset purchase. The firm originally hoped to acquire both the Denali assets in Texas and Mississippi from Denali Oil & Gas for $178-million, as well as the EQ assets in southern Oklahoma and Texas from EnergyQuest for $148-million. The EQ assets were ultimately scrapped and the Denali assets are now being bought for $167-million.
After re-filing its prospectus in July, Argent was put under the gun to get its deal done because a new clause allowed either party to walk away if the proposed acquisition didn't close by August 31. That's no longer a worry.
As a mutual fund trust, Argent will pay out much of its income the way that the old income trusts used to and started trading a pricey yield of 10.5 per cent annually.
Scotia Capital, CIBC World Markets and RBC Dominion Securities co-led the offering.