Cobalt International Files for IPO

Oil exploration company Cobalt International Energy Inc. said it plans to raise up to $1.15 billion with an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange.

The filing was made Friday with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Cobalt plans to apply to list its common stock under a "CIE" ticker.

Money raised from the IPO will be used for drilling and exploration through 2011, as well as for general corporate purposes, the company said in its filing. The 4-year-old company said it doesn't expect to generate any revenue from production before 2012.

Cobalt, based in Houston, explores reservoirs in the deep-water basins in the Gulf of Mexico and West Africa. Investors in the company include Goldman Sachs, The Carlyle Group and First Reserve Corp. CEO Joseph Bryant is a former president and CEO of Unocal Corp. He also worked at BP and Amoco.

The number of IPOs so far this year has been paltry compared to the hundreds of companies that went public just a few years ago. But the pace has picked up recently with the stock market's recovery.

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