Chesapeake Oilfield Services files for IPO of up to $862.5 mln 04/16 04:56 PM

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* Intends to list Class A common stock on NYSE under "COS"

* Names Goldman Sachs, BofA Merrill Lynch as underwriters

April 16 - Chesapeake Oilfield Services, a unit of Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK:$19.19,00$-0.76,00-3.81%) , filed with U.S. regulators to raise up to $862.5 million in an initial public offering of its Class A common stock.

In a regulatory filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, the company said Goldman Sachs and BofA Merrill Lynch would underwrite the offering.

The filing did not reveal how many shares the company planned to sell or their expected price.

Chesapeake Oilfield Services provides its parent, Chesapeake Energy (CHK:$19.19,00$-0.76,00-3.81%) , and other partners services in the Eagle Ford, Utica, Niobrara and Marcellus shale plays, some of the most heavily drilled areas in the United States.

Last month, Chesapeake Chief Executive Aubrey McClendon said the company would likely announce a way to monetize its oil services business and its 30 percent stake in privately held oilfield service company Frac Tech International in the fourth quarter.

Chesapeake Oilfield Services, which intends to list its Class A common stock on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "COS", said its parent Chesapeake will own all of the company's Class B shares.

Chesapeake formed the oilfield services subsidiary last September and said it believes the business will be worth as much as $10 billion in 2012.