JANUARY 14, 2011, 2:26 P.M. ET.

Kosmos Energy Plans $500 Million IPO

By TESS STYNES

Kosmos Energy Ltd. plans to offer up to $500 million in an initial public offering of its shares to raise funds for oil and gas exploration and drilling activities through early 2013, according to its filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Kosmos, majority-owned by private equity firms Blackstone Group LP and Warburg Pincus LLC, said it expects about $400 million of capital expenditures this year, with the majority targeted for development of assets off the coast of Ghana.

The oil and gas explorer, which is focused on Africa, last month said it had resolved a long-running dispute with the government of Ghana over its failed attempt to sell stakes in offshore oil fields to Exxon Mobil Corp.

Production from the Jubilee Field offshore Ghana, the largest discovery offshore West Africa in the past decade, began in Novemeber. The company expects its first oil revenue from the field early this year.

Tullow Oil PLC and Anadarko Petroleum Corp. are Kosmos's partners in the license blocks.

For the nine months ended Sept. 30, the company reported a wider net loss of $180.2 million as revenue dropped 22% and it posted sharply higher costs and expenses related to debt and derivatives.

The company was incorporated in Bermuda this month as a holding company, with its management operations conducted through Kosmos Energy LLC, based in Texas.

Kosmos plans to apply for listing on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol KOS.

Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@dowjones.com

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