Regulatory Filings • Oct 21, 2015
Regulatory Filings
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CONTEMPLATED PRIVATE PLACEMENT
African Petroleum Corporation Limited ("African
Petroleum" or the "Company"), an independent oil and
gas exploration company operating ten licences in five
countries offshore West Africa, intends to carry out a
private placement to raise between NOK 12 million to
NOK 20 million (approximately US$1.5 million to US$2.5
million) through the issue of new fully paid ordinary
shares to certain existing and new investors
(the "Private Placement"). Mirabaud Securities LLP
has been appointed to act as Lead Manager for the
Private Placement.
Proceeds from the Private Placement will be used to
strengthen the Company's balance sheet and liquidity
position, to fund the Company's ongoing working
capital and for general corporate purposes.
The Private Placement will be directed at a limited
number of selected investors pursuant to applicable
exemptions from local prospectus requirements and
other filing requirements and in compliance with
Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as
amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), including in the
United States to qualified institutional buyers
("QIBs") as defined in, Rule 144A under the U.S.
Securities Act; subject to a minimum application and
allocation of an amount in NOK equivalent to EUR
100,000 per investor.
The shares to be offered in the Private Placement
(the "Offer Shares") will be offered at a price to be
determined during the book building process and
discussions with potential investors in the Private
Placement. The application period for the Private
Placement commences today, 21 October 2015, at 16:30
(CET) and will close on 22 October 2015 at 08:00
(CET). The Company, together with the Lead Manager,
reserves the right to close or extend the application
period at any time at their sole discretion, or to
cancel the Private Placement in its entirety.
The allocation of the Offer Shares will be determined
at the end of the application period. The final
allocation of the Offer Shares will be made by the
Company's Board of Directors ("Board") and at the
Board's sole discretion. The completion of the Private
Placement will be conditional upon (i) the Company
receiving full payment for the Offer Shares on the due
date for payment; and (ii) any regulatory approvals
required to issue the Offer Shares.
The Company will announce the number of shares
allocated in the Private Placement through a stock
exchange notice expected to be published before
opening of the trading on Oslo Axess tomorrow, 22
October 2015.
Assuming successful completion of the Private
Placement and fulfilment of the conditions as set out
above, the Offer Shares are expected to be issued on
or about 28 October 2015 and be tradable on Oslo Axess
shortly thereafter.
The Board has taken account of its obligations under
section 5-14 of the NSTA and the section 2.1 of the
Continuing Obligations for Stock Exchange Listed
Companies (the "Continuing Obligations") and considers
the Private Placement to be in the best common
interests of the Company and its shareholders to
secure funding from qualifying investors at the most
competitive cost, in a timescale that will allow the
Company to continue to concentrate on its farm-out
opportunities, to secure partners for certain of its
licences, and to secure funds for payment of working
capital commitment's as they fall due. Due to the
current pricing of the Company's shares, the timing
aspect of the transaction and the limited discount to
the last trading price, the Board is currently of the
view that it is not in the best interest of the
Company and the shareholders to conduct a subsequent
repair issue in connection with the Private Placement.
It is the view of the Board that the costs related to
such a repair offering would not be justified.
For further information, please contact:
Jens Pace, Chief Executive Officer
Stephen West, Finance Director
Tel: +44 20 3761 6900
Lead Manager:
Mirabaud Securities LLP
Peter Krens
Tel: +44 20 7878 3362
Media Contacts:
For UK and International media: Buchanan
Ben Romney/Helen Chan
Tel: +44 207 466 5000
For Norwegian media: First House
Geir Arne Drangeid
Tel: +47 913 10 458
About African Petroleum
African Petroleum is an independent oil and gas
exploration company operating ten licences in five
countries offshore West Africa. The Company's assets
are located in proven hydrocarbon basins in the West
African Transform Margin, and the Atlantic Margin,
where several discoveries have been made in recent
years. With a combined net acreage position of
30,378km2 through its licences in Côte d'Ivoire,
Liberia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and The Gambia, the
Company has matured its portfolio through the
acquisition of more than 18,500km2 of 3D seismic data
and successfully drilling three deep-water wells, one
of which was the first hydrocarbons discovery in the
offshore Liberian - Sierra Leone Basin.
For more information about African Petroleum, please
see www.africanpetroleum.com.au
This information is subject to disclosure requirements
pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities
Trading Act.
Disclaimer
The information contained herein shall not constitute
an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to
buy, nor shall there be any sale of the securities
referred to herein in any jurisdiction in which such
offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful prior to
registration, exemption from registration or
qualification under the securities laws of any such
jurisdiction. In particular, the securities referenced
herein have not been, and will not be, registered
under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended
(the "Securities Act"), and may not be offered or sold
in the United States absent registration or pursuant
an exemption from the registration requirements of the
Securities Act and applicable U.S. state securities
laws. The Company does not intend to register any
part of the offering in the United States or to
conduct a public offering of securities in the United
States.
This press release may not be released to any U.S.
wire service or distributed or sent, directly or
indirectly, into the United States, Canada, Japan or
any other jurisdiction in which such release or
distribution would be unlawful
This document is a press release and not a prospectus
for the purposes of Directive 2003/71/EC as amended
(together with any applicable implementing measures in
any Member State, the "Prospectus Directive"). Any
offering of securities will be made to investors in
any EEA Member State in reliance on applicable
exemptions from the obligation to prepare a prospectus
under the Prospectus Directive, and no EEA prospectus
will accordingly be prepared or available for the
purpose of the Private Placement. In any EEA Member
State other than Norway that has implemented the
Prospectus Directive, this communication is only
addressed to and is only directed at qualified
investors in that Member State within the meaning of
the Prospectus Directive, i.e., only to investors who
can receive the offer without an approved prospectus
in such EEA Member State.
This press release may not be distributed to any
person in the United Kingdom except persons (i) who
have professional experience in matters relating to
investments falling within Article 19(5) (investment
professionals) of the Financial Services and Markets
Act 2000 (Financial Promotions) Order 2005 ("FPO"),
(ii) who fall within the categories of persons
referred to in Article 49(2)(a) to (d) (high net worth
companies, unincorporated associations, etc.) of the
FPO or (iii) to whom it may otherwise be lawfully
communicated.
This press release is not an offer to sell, or the
solicitation of an offer to buy, any of the Company's
securities to or from investors in Australia. This
press release is not a prospectus, product disclosure
statement or other offer document under Australian
law. Any offers relating to the Company's securities
in Australia will be made only to persons who are
professional investors or sophisticated investors (as
those terms are used in s708(11) and s708(8),
respectively, of the Australian Corporations Act 2001
("Corporations Act")) or other persons specified in
s708 of the Corporations Act who do not require or
need to be given a prospectus or other disclosure
document under Chapter 6D of the Corporations Act to
lawfully receive an offer to subscribe for or acquire
securities in the Company.
This press release contains forward-looking
statements. Forward-looking statements are statements
that are not historical facts and may be identified by
words such
as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "estima
te," "will," "may," "continue," "should" and similar
expressions. The forward-looking statements in this
release are based upon various assumptions, many of
which are based, in turn, upon further assumptions.
Although African Petroleum believes that these
assumptions were reasonable when made, these
assumptions are inherently subject to significant
known and unknown risks, uncertainties, contingencies
and other important factors that are difficult or
impossible to predict and are beyond its control.
Such risks, uncertainties, contingencies and other
important factors could cause actual events to differ
materially from the expectations expressed or implied
in this release by such forward-looking statements.
The information, opinions and forward-looking
statements contained in this release speak only as at
its date, and are subject to change without notice.
African Petroleum disclaims any obligation to update
and revise any forward-looking statements, whether as
a result of new information, future events or
otherwise.
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