FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
14 February 2020
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc / Index: LSE / Epic: PRD / Sector: Oil & Gas
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc
("Predator" or the "Company" and together with its subsidiaries "the Group")
Placing to raise £3.56million
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc (PRD), the Jersey-based Oil and Gas Company with operations in Trinidad, Morocco and Ireland is pleased to announce that it has conditionally placed 89,000,000 new ordinary shares of no par value in the Company (the "Placing Shares") at a placing price of 4 pence each (the "Placing Price") to raise £3.56million (before expenses) (the "Placing").
The Placing was significantly oversubscribed and utilises all of the Company's existing headroom.
Novum Securities and Optiva Securities are acting as Joint Brokers and placing agents to the Company.
The Company is now fully funded for the drilling of the Moulouya well onshore Morocco and the Company will continue with rapidly progressing the project towards such drilling ("spudding").
In addition, the Company will be upscaling the potential for profits from Enhanced Oil Recovery utilising CO2 onshore Trinidad ("CO2 EOR") and for general working capital.
This further capitalisation of the Company creates the ability to now secure an in-country rig to drill the Moulouya well, resulting in a significant saving in rig mobilisation costs compared to sourcing overseas. It also facilitates the earlier return to the Company of the first USD 1 million of the USD 1.5 million Bank Guarantee in place with ONHYM after the completion and reporting of drilling operations. Furthermore, the additional funds gives the Company greater opportunity to move towards potentially upscaling profits from CO2 EOR operations in Trinidad following on from successful CO2 injection announced previously.
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings Plc CEO Paul Griffiths commented:-
"I am very pleased to announce this oversubscribed placing that results in the business being very well capitalised as we enter a period of potentially transformational business operations"
"This is a particularly exciting time for Predator as we approach the spudding of the high impact Moulouya well in Morocco just 4 kilometres from gas infrastructure. This is a very large prospect. I also expect during Q2 2020 continued good progress in Trinidad to deliver scalable profits from our CO2 EOR project. Further analysis of the benefits of CO2 sequestration in Trinidad to the Company will continue to be assessed and developed."
"I would like to thank new and existing shareholders for their support in backing the business and I look forward to updating the market regularly with newsflow on our progress as we execute on our strategy of building a profitable oil and gas business founded upon a core commitment to Environmental, Social and Governance protocols."
Completion of the Placing
Completion of the Placing is conditional on, inter alia:-
(i) approval by the FCA of a prospectus to be published by the Company in connection with the Placing (the "Prospectus") and the publication by the Company of the Prospectus in accordance with the Prospectus Rules; and
(ii) the Placing Shares being admitted to listing on the Official List (standard listing segment) and to trading on the London Stock Exchange's main market for listed securities ("Admission") on or before 28 February 2020 (or such later date as may be agreed by the Company and Optiva Securities and Novum Securities).
Agreement with Arato Global Opportunities LLC
Arato Global Opportunities LLC ("Arato"), providers of the previously announced Convertible Loan Note, have agreed with the Company:
§ to an Orderly Market Agreement
§ to allow the Company not to repay any of the Convertible Loan Note from the Placing Proceeds
§ that Arato be given security over the USD 1 million cash in the form of the returnable Bank Guarantee from ONHYM following completion of the Moulouya well.
Admission, Settlement and Dealings in Placing Shares
In addition to the Placing Shares and in order to maximise cash resources the Company is issuing, subject to approval at a General Meeting to be convened by the Company, 4,875,000 new ordinary shares in settlement of fees together with warrants over 4,450,000 new ordinary shares at 4p per share expiring on 28 February 2023.
Applications will be made to the FCA and to the London Stock Exchange for Admission in respect of all the Placing Shares proposed to be issued on completion of the Placing. It is expected that Admission will become effective, and that dealings in the Placing Shares are expected to commence, at 8.00 a.m. on 28 February 2020.
The rights attaching to the Placing Shares will be uniform in all respects and all of the Placing Shares will rank pari passu, and form a single class for all purposes with, the existing issued shares of no par value in the Company.
Following Admission of the Placing Shares, the enlarged Share Capital will be 197,172,169 ordinary shares of no par value.
Prospectus
Hard copies of the Prospectus to be published by the Company in connection with the Placing, which includes a Competent Person's Report prepared by SLR Consulting Limited in respect of the Company's interests in Morocco, Trinidad and Ireland will be available at the office of the Company, 3rd Floor, Standard Bank House, 47-49 La Motte Street, St. Helier, Jersey JE2 4SZ and on the Company's website at http://www.predatoroilandgas.com. Hard copies of the Prospectus will also be available at the offices of the Company's brokers and placing agents, Optiva Securities Limited, 49 Berkeley Square, Mayfair, London W1J 5AZ and Novum Securities Limited, 10 Grosvenor Gardens, Belgravia, London SW1W 0DH.The Prospectus will also be available at the FCA's Document Storage Mechanism at http://www.morningstar.co.uk/uk/NSM.
Enquiries:
Predator Oil & Gas Holdings plc Paul Griffiths Chief Executive Officer Carl Kindinger Non-Executive Chairman |
Tel: +44 (0)1534 834600 |
Novum Securities Limited Jon Belliss Optiva Securities Limited Christian Dennis |
Tel: +44(0) 207 399 9425 Tel: +44(0) 203 137 1902 |
Follow us also on VOX Market https://www.voxmarkets.co.uk/ This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Regulation (EU) No 596/2014 on market abuse |
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Qualified Person's statement:
The information contained in this document has been reviewed and approved by Mr. Paul Griffiths, Chief Executive Officer. Mr Griffiths has a BSc in Geology from Imperial College London and is an Associate of the Royal School of Mines. Mr. Griffiths has over 43 years of relevant experience in the upstream oil industry.
Notes to Editors:
Predator is operator of the Guercif Petroleum Agreement onshore Morocco which is prospective for Tertiary gas in a prospect 4 kilometres from the Maghreb gas pipeline, and deeper Triassic gas. A well location has been selected for drilling in Q2 2020 and a rig option agreement has been entered into.
Predator is an oil and gas exploration company with the objective of participating with FRAM Exploration Trinidad Ltd. in further developing the remaining oil reserves in the producing Inniss Trinity oil field onshore Trinidad, primarily through the application of C02 EOR technology. Potential for cash flow exists by executing the Pilot Enhanced Oil Recovery project using locally sourced carbon dioxide for injection into the oil reservoirs ("C02 EOR"). Near-term expansion and growth potential is focussed on upscaling the C02 EOR operations in the Inniss-Trinity oil field.
In addition, Predator also operates exploration and appraisal assets in licensing options offshore Ireland, for which Successor Authorisations have been applied for, adjoining Shell's Corrib gas field in the Slyne Basin on the Atlantic Margin and east of the Kinsale gas field and Barryroe oil field in the Celtic Sea. Ireland however remains a very challenging regulatory environment for business investment in the oil and gas sector and is not the immediate focus of the Company's near-term operations.
The Company has a highly experienced management team with a proven track record in the oil and gas industry.
