HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 29, 2012-- Cobalt International Energy, Inc. (“Cobalt”) (NYSE:CIE) today announced the closing of the previously announced registered underwritten public offering of shares of its common stock. Cobalt sold a total of 18,050,000 shares of common stock in this offering, including 2,350,000 shares sold pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in its entirety, resulting in gross proceeds to Cobalt of approximately $505 million. The selling stockholders sold a total of 41,750,000 shares of Cobalt’s common stock, including 5,450,000 shares sold by certain selling stockholders pursuant to the exercise of the underwriters’ over-allotment option in its entirety, resulting in gross proceeds to the selling stockholders of approximately $1.2 billion.

Cobalt intends to use the net proceeds from its sale of shares of common stock to fund its capital expenditures and for general corporate purposes. Cobalt will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of common stock by the selling stockholders.

Goldman, Sachs & Co., Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC, Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC, Citigroup Global Markets Inc. and J.P. Morgan Securities LLC acted as joint book-running managers of the offering. Tudor, Pickering, Holt & Co. Securities, Inc., Deutsche Bank Securities Inc., RBC Capital Markets, LLC, UBS Securities LLC, Howard Weil Incorporated, Stifel Nicolaus Weisel, Incorporated and Capital One Southcoast, Inc. acted as co-managers of the offering.

About Cobalt

Cobalt is an independent oil exploration and production company focusing on the deepwater U.S. Gulf of Mexico and offshore Angola and Gabon in West Africa. Cobalt was formed in 2005 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 — that is, statements related to future, not past, events. Forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and include any statement that does not directly relate to a current or historical fact. In this context, forward-looking statements often address Cobalt’s expected future business and financial performance, and often contain words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “intend,” “expect,” “plan,” “will” or other similar words. These forward-looking statements involve certain risks and uncertainties that ultimately may not prove to be accurate. Actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. For further discussion of risks and uncertainties, individuals should refer to Cobalt’s SEC filings. Cobalt undertakes no obligation and does not intend to update these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after this press release, other than as required by law. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. All forward-looking statements are qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.

Source: Cobalt International Energy, Inc.

Cobalt International Energy, Inc.
Investor Relations:
Richard A. Smith, +1 713-452-2322
Vice President, Investor Relations and Planning
or
Media Relations:
Lynne L. Hackedorn, +1 713-579-9115
Vice President, Government and Public Affairs