United Kingdom
Akiyuki HORIE have been in the energy sector for 24 years including 2 year experiences at the investment bank division of the Japanese commercial bank as a secondee and have acquired excellent knowledge on the finance through his undergraduate diploma, the transactions he experienced and postgraduate diploma. His work experiences and selected achievements are available below.
CIECO Exploration and Production (UK) limited is ITOCHU Corporation’s overseas arm in the space of oil and gas upstream, which continues its operation in the United Kingdom Continental Shelf from 1993. It geographically covers Europe, Africa and Middle East. Co-lead the business development team to re-shape asset acquisition strategies targeting in Europe and Africa and had been engaged in the administrative work of the existing oil and gas assets in the UKCS. Currently leading a team to divest one of our core operations (ongoing); Held responsible for the internal coordination across multiple teams in London and Tokyo and external communication with the operator for the commercial and legal issues in respect of Western Isles Development Project; Co-led the multi-functional team comprised of the business development and subsurface teams across two offices in London and Tokyo to develop the detailed strategy report in terms of geology, reservoir engineering, political stability and fiscal regime to enter the Norwegian sector; Co-led the business development team to holistically assess the potential for the oil and gas upstream sectors in the UK and Norway including the review of selected oil and gas fields and articulated the asset acquisition strategies in both countries; and Co-led the asset review team comprised of the business development and tax and accounting teams across two offices in London and Tokyo and delivered the appraisal report of the oil fields with their financials forecast for the auditor’s review.
JD Rockies Resources Limited was ITOCHU Corporation’s overseas arm which was focused on the U.S unconventional plays. I engaged in a new business development activities in the U.S oil and gas midstream space and the administrative work of investment in the U.S independent oil and gas company. My work experience includes: Assessed the oil and gas midstream industry from legal and taxation perspectives and the growth strategy of key industry peers in the United States for the purpose of identifying suitable business models which aligns with the internal risk-reward preference and potential partners; Built and maintained networks with local companies in the oil and gas upstream and the midstream industries in the United States; and Held responsibility for overall management of the investees in the United States.
Acquired the U.S. independent oil and gas company (the Target) at circa US$ 1.0 billion (net to our shares) through the review of tax and accounting due diligence with in-house legal counsel and tax adviser, and reviewed new LBO financings contracts for the Target; Prepared an internal finance plan to fund the acquisition cost of circa US1.0 billion for the Target through the combination of the equity (circa US$400 million) and the external debt sources (circa US$600 million) including Japan Bank for International Cooperation; Worked on a potential acquisition of the oil field at the shallow water off Meddle East though performing due diligence on launch new legal entity supposed to hold a concession in a legal, tax and accounting aspects in cooperation with the internal and external advisers; Performed the internal due diligence and prepared the internal memorandum for the decision making to shoulder risks coupled with the expansion of the oil and gas development project (held by the special purpose vehicle) off Russia; Performed documentation to arrange the guarantee in favour of Japanese ECA to cover the debt facility to fund the development costs (net to the ratio of our ownership to such a vehicle); Divested an oil field off Australia at A$ 5 million through developing the divestiture strategy, creating a financial model to evaluate the asset value, conducting legal and tax due diligence with in-house and external legal counsels and a tax adviser, preparing contract documents, negotiating term and conditions with the buyer and documenting the contracts; and Identified new investment opportunities across the coverage areas in line with the growth strategy by evaluating them though accessing strategic fit and assessing economic viability in cooperation with the in-house technical department and external consultants (where required).