Billionaire Russian oligarch Igor Makarov takes major stake in Calgary natural gas producer Spartan Delta

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CALGARY — Billionaire Russian oligarch Igor Makarov is the largest shareholder in fast-growing Spartan Delta Corp., according to regulatory filings by the Calgary-based oil and gas company.

On Monday, Spartan Delta’s regulatory filings revealed Makarov’s Geneva, Switzerland-based ARETI Energy S.A. has taken a 21 per cent stake in Spartan Delta, acquiring roughly 23.7 million shares in the natural gas producer. The development follows weeks of speculation that major Russian investors are looking for deals in the Canadian oilpatch.

After the Russian investor’s stake was revealed Monday, a Tuesday filing on the System For Electronic Disclosures by Insiders (SEDI) showed Makarov sold 164,683 Spartan Delta shares at an average price of $3.83 per share for proceeds of $631,411, leaving him in control of 20.64 per cent of Spartan Delta shares. The shares were due to be transferred to Peter Hornbach and AB-Holding GmbH of Annweiler, Germany.

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Atlanta-based hedge fund GMT Capital is the second largest institutional shareholders with a 7 per cent stake, while Spartan Delta president and CEO Fotis Kalantzis and executive chair Richard McHardy each own roughly 3 per cent of the company, according to Bloomberg data.

ARETI did not respond to a request for comment, but the company’s website states that it is “focused on investments in the oil and gas sector,” as well as power supply, real-estate development and food product manufacturing and delivery. Spartan Delta did not respond to a request for comment.

The potential for Russian investment in the Canadian oil and gas sector has become a topic of gossip in the Calgary oilpatch, which has seen an exodus of international companies from Western Europe including Norway’s Equinor SA and France’s Total SA in recent years.

On Feb. 5, a published-then-retracted Cormark Securities Ltd. research note predicted Moscow-based Lukoil PJSC was in talks to buy a major stake in privately held Calgary-based Velvet Energy Ltd. from the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board and Warburg Pincus LLC of New York.

An official from CPPIB declined to comment on the rumoured transaction at the time, calling it speculation. No transaction has been announced since the retracted research note.

Spartan Delta has grown quickly by acquiring distressed natural gas producing assets over the past year, including its $87-million purchase of insolvent Bellatrix Exploration Ltd.’s assets in April 2020.

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The deal transformed Spartan Delta, previously known as Return Energy Inc., from a company with 200 barrels of oil equivalent production per day into a 25,000 boed producer overnight and the company’s shares are up 7,840 per cent over the past year, with the majority of that jump coming when the deal was approved in June 2020.

Since the Bellatrix acquisition, Spartan Delta has struck more recent deals to buy Calgary-based Cequence Energy Ltd and Inception Exploration Ltd.

Makarov, whose net worth Forbes estimates at US$2.1 billion, was the controlling shareholder in Inception and accepted Spartan Delta’s all-share offer for the company.

Spartan Delta shares rose 3 per cent Wednesday, or 12 cents, to $4.02 each on the Toronto Stock Exchange — putting the total value of Makarov’s investment, through ARETI, in Spartan Delta at $94.5 million.

ARETI appears to be an anagram of Itera Oil and Gas Company, which was founded by Makarov in 1992 to supply natural gas from Turkmenistan, where Makarov was born, to former USSR countries and Eastern Europe. The company grew to become the largest privately held oil and gas company in Russia until its sale to state-owned Rosneft Oil Co. in 2013.

Makarov, who was once part of the USSR’s national cycling team, rebranded his remaining companies as ARETI in 2015 and now has business interests in Russia, Switzerland, the U.S. and the Middle East, in addition to Canada.

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