Britain oil and gas explorer Cairn will change its company's name from 'Cairn Energy PLC' to 'Capricorn Energy PLC', with effect from December 13, 2021, according to a regulatory filing to the London Stock Exchange (LSE).

The LSE stock ticker will remain as ''CNE'', after the change of company name. The change will be around the time its over $1 billion retrospective tax dispute will be nearing closure and also follows an agreement at the time of the Cairn India IPO that the name would ultimately be changed.

Cairn Energy - which gave the country its biggest on-land oil discovery, had sold the India unit, Cairn India to mining baron Anil Agarwal's Vedanta Group in 2011. The sale included the transfer of the Cairn brand name to Vedanta.

Given the recent legislative change and Cairn's participation in the related tax refund process, the company is now putting in place its planned name change. The UK-based firm said that no action from shareholders is required in relation to the name change. The new name reflects the company's continuity and evolution, said Cairn. Also, majority of Cairn's subsidiaries have been known as Capricorn for some time, as per the statement.

Cairn is one of Europe's leading independent energy companies. The company has discovered, explored, developed, and produced oil and gas in a variety of locations throughout the world as an operator and partner across all stages of the oil and gas lifecycle.

The company's exploration activities have a geographical focus in the North Sea, West Africa, and Latin America, supported by interests in the production and development assets, according to the LSE filing.

Cairn is headquartered in Edinburgh, Scotland and has operational offices in London, Mexico, Egypt, and Mauritania.