Cairn Energy sells 8 per cent stake in Cairn India

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Cairn Energy Plc (CNE.L) has raised $910 million by selling an 8 per cent stake in Cairn India, continuing the sell-down of its historic interest in the Indian business it formerly controlled to fund new projects.

Cairn Energy retains a 10 per cent stake in Cairn India after selling nearly 153 million shares, the company said, confirming what a source had told Reuters earlier on Tuesday.

The proceeds of the sale will be used to help fund the development of Cairn's recently acquired positions in the North Sea, where it has spent over $1 billion buying two companies.

Over the last two years, Cairn has shifted its focus towards the North Sea and the Mediterranean, adding those regions to its core exploration assets in Greenland, as it moves away from the oil fields it helped discover and develop in India.

It sold a controlling stake in Cairn India to London-listed miner Vedanta Resources in an $8.7 billion deal last year.

"It is likely that Cairn will sell its remaining stake in Cairn India at some stage in order to fund its development and exploration programmes," analyst Richard Griffith at brokerage Oriel said in a note.

The British oil firm had launched the offering on Monday for between 317.90 rupees and 328.30 rupees per share, a discount of between 5 and 8.7 per cent to Cairn India's closing price on Monday, a source told Reuters.

Citigroup (C.N) was the sole bookrunner for the transaction.