Oil and gas producer Capricorn Energy said on Thursday it would cut three fourths of its UK staff to keep less than 40 employees there as the oil and gas producer focuses on its Egypt operations.

Capricorn told Reuters that the consultation process over job cuts would cover about 120 roles and the company said in a statement that most of these changes are expected to come in the next two months.

The company is set to give a strategy update in April, two months after a shareholder revolt over its plans to merge with Israeli gas producer NewMed Energy that resulted in a new board mostly comprising members proposed by activist investor Palliser.

Palliser and some of Capricorn's biggest shareholders had publicly opposed the merger, and major shareholder advisory groups had also recommended rejecting the plan.

(Reporting by Aby Jose Koilparambil in Bengaluru and Shadia Nasralla in London; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Shounak Dasgupta)