London: Topaz Energy & Marine, a Dubai- based oil and gas contracting company, is seeking to raise as much as $500 million in an initial public offering in London, according to terms for the sale obtained by Bloomberg News.

The company is seeking to sell as much as $500 million (Dh1.8 billion) of new shares while its owner, Muscat, Oman-based oil and gas service provider Renaissance Services SAOG, will also sell part of its stake in the IPO, according to the sales document. It didn't disclose how many existing shares will be offered.

Topaz Energy & Marine was acquired by Renaissance Services in 2005.

Profit rose 38 per cent to $65 million in 2009 and revenue increased 7 per cent to $448 million, Topaz Energy & Marine said in March 2010. The company expected "strong growth" from 2011.

Topaz Energy agreed to buy two offshore supply vessels from Deep Sea Supply for $40.4 million last month. It won a contract valued at $100 million from Chemoil Energy in October, for the construction of an oil storage terminal in Fujairah.

While four companies raised about $1.8 billion in London this year, Russian steel maker Severstal's Nord Gold unit and Russian coke and chemical producer Koks cancelled or postponed their London IPOs of about $1.5 billion.

Bank of America Merrill Lynch and JPMorgan Chase are joint bookrunners for Topaz's IPO, along with co-lead managers Barclays Plc and Oriel Securities Ltd.