Argentum has committed NOK 40 million to the newly established Energy Ventures Top-Up fund, Energy Ventures (B) IS. Total committed capital reached NOK 86 million. The fund will provide Energy Ventures II KS Fund with additional investment capacity. The capital was raised from existing investors in the Energy Venture II fund with Argentum and Argentum`s partner Gjensidige backing 65% of the fund. This extension fund will allow Energy Ventures to support the portfolio companies further, which in turn is expected to yield higher returns for the investors.

Energy Ventures II was established in April 2005 with NOK 589 million in committed capital. The fund is fully invested, and has the following companies in its portfolio : ARKeX, Deepflex, Stingray Geophysical, Ziebel, PanGeo Subsea , Cubility, Ingrain, and Sigma Offshore.

- Argentum has had the privilege of being one of Energy Ventures’ partners since 2003. Through this Extension Fund, we and the other investors provide a vehicle that will allow for further investments and value creation which will benefit the portfolio companies, the energy industry as well as the investors”, says CEO of Argentum, Joachim Høegh-Krohn.

Argentum and their program partner Gjensidige are backing two thirds of the new fund.

- We are very pleased that our investors continue to place confidence in us. The present market conditions offer exciting opportunities, and this Top-Up fund will make it possible to develop our investments even further in order to maximise return for our investors, says managing partner Ole Melberg in Energy Ventures.

About Energy Ventures

 (www.energyventures.no):

Energy Ventures is a leading international venture capital company focusing on investments in the energy business in general and upstream oil and gas in particular. The company has offices in Stavanger, Houston and Aberdeen.

Energy Ventures advices three funds, and has NOK 2, 2 billion in assets under management. Energy Ventures invests in and develops companies within upstream oil and gas, and has been an active owner of exited companies such as APL, Sense EDM and MTEM.

About Argentum

 (www.argentum.no)

Argentum is a specialized investment company within Nordic Private Equity, and is 100 % owned by the Norwegian state. Argentum has offices in Bergen, Oslo and Stockholm. Argentum`s equity capital is NOK 5, 2 billion and the company has invested in 33 private equity funds.

Argentum has delivered 18 % annual returns since its inception, and established the Nordic Private Equity Programme (NPEP) with the partners Gjensidige, Conoco-Phillips Pensjonskasse Norge and the Varner Group in 2008. NPEP intends to commit NOK 1,5 billion per year in PE funds with a Nordic focus.

For further information please contact:

Joachim Høegh-Krohn, CEO, Argentum, tel 93407109;
Email: jhk@argentum.no

Maria Borch Helsengreen, Director of Business Development, Argentum, tel: 95742213; Email: mbh@argentum.no

Energy Ventures:
Ole Melberg, Managing Partner, tel: 95226030, Email: ole.melberg@energyventures.no