BP boss Tony Hayward returns with Vallares

I notice the former BP chief Tony Hayward has overcome any issues with the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and is set to be back in the money.

Specifically, he hopes to raise £1bn from the London listing of Vallares, his new oil and gas joint venture

The Guardian reports that Hayward has received early financial backing from institutional investors, hedge funds and sovereign wealth funds; some of whose owners may be his old pals from school or business school, perhaps.

The paper adds that this new venture plans to use the money raised on the London market to buy into an oil and gas company in need of capital, with a value of up to £8bn. But instead of buying the company, Vallares will offer shares in itself and therefore give the company access to the global financial markets.

‘We will be offering a short-cut to an IPO [initial public offering],’ said Hayward, ‘for maybe a family-owned business, which has access to good resources but not capital. Merging with us would offer access to capability, capital and credibility.’

Not entirely sure about the last word there, but let’s not quibble.

Key to proceedings is hedge fund manager Nat Rothschild, part of the long-standing banking dynasty.

He said: ‘I am delighted to be partnering with Tony Hayward, whom I have known for many years, on this exciting new venture. Together, we believe the company is well positioned to capture value in a sector with attractive fundamental supply-demand dynamics.’

Expect the cash to say in the same few hands, then.