From Calgary Herald:
More Calgary oil and gas companies are expected to dump their public market listings to “go private” as long as low commodity prices continue to erode their public market value, according to law firm Bennett Jones.
In a report released Wednesday, the Calgary firm notes that three junior oil and gas companies have used private funds to buy back their publicly traded shares and become unlisted, non-reporting entities since July of last year, following a path taken by only 15 other Canadian energy firms over the past 10 years.
It said the trend isn’t surprising given the total $230-billion decline in market capitalization among public Canadian oil and gas companies since July 2014 — with about $11.4 billion of those losses hitting shares and options held by company managers and other insiders.
