Tourmaline Oil Corp. has priced its initial public offering at C$21 a share, or at the mid-point of the C$20-to-C$22-a-share range, but has raised significantly more than initially targeted as investors bet the management team led by Mike Rose can repeat past successes, according to institutional investor sources.

Tourmaline, a natural gas producer, will raise C$210 million from the IPO before any overallotment is exercised, up from the original target of about C$125 million, reflecting Rose's reputation for generating shareholder value. Concurrent with the IPO, Rose, the company's chief executive, and Robert Yurkovich, the executive vice-president of exploration, are participating in a private placement of Tourmaline shares, investing a total of C$17.9 million, also paying C$21 for each share.

Rose is well known in Canada's energy patch after starting, managing, and then selling natural gas producer Duvernay Oil Corp. to Royal Dutch Shell for C$5.9 billion in 2008, at the top of the market for natural gas prices. Back in 2001, Rose also sold Berkley Petroleum Corp. for C$1.6 billion to Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (APC)

Tourmaline is coming to market at a time when natural gas prices are in a slump, suggesting to some investors that Rose and his management team are betting the commodity price has bottomed and is positioned to rebound. For others, however, the uncertainty over the commodity price and the issue's relatively rich valuation was reason against participating in the offering.

At the same time, previously hyped Canadian energy IPOs this year have a mixed track record.

Earlier this year Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. (ATH.T) raised C$1.35 billion in Canada's largest IPO in years, pricing the issue at C$18 a share. However, Tuesday in Toronto the stock is trading at C$11.30.

MEG Energy Corp. (MEG.T), another oil-sands company, priced its C$700 million IPO in July at C$35 a share. In Toronto Tuesday, the stock is at C$39.23.

Tourmaline, founded in 2008, is focused on "building a successful Canadian intermediate crude oil and natural gas exploration, development and production company with a long-term business strategy similar to that of Duvernay and Berkley Petroleum," the IPO prospectus states.

Tourmaline has about 834,000 acres of land of which 80% is undeveloped, and 2,000 drilling locations in the Alberta Deep Basin and the Greater Peace River High areas in Western Canada, according to the prospectus. It has budgeted C$425 million for its 2011 exploration and development program based on prevailing commodity prices and industry conditions. A portion of the IPO proceeds will be used to help fund this budget, the prospectus says.

Ahead of the IPO, the company has already raised a total of C$923.6 million from earlier financings, with management participating significantly in each deal. Prices of shares sold have increased for each round of financing, starting at C$3.50 in an early round to C$22 a share in the most recent financing in August.

A Tourmaline spokesman couldn't immediately be reached.

-By Ben Dummett; Dow Jones Newswires; 416-306-2024; ben.dummett@dowjones.com

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