Result of Placing

RNS Number : 6439S

i3 Energy PLC

12 March 2019

 

12 March 2019

i3 Energy plc

("i3" or the "Company")

Result of Placing

Capitalised terms used in this announcement (this "Announcement") have the meanings given to them in the announcement made earlier today regarding the proposed placing (the "Placing Announcement"), unless the context provides otherwise.

i3 Energy plc, an independent oil and gas company with assets and operations in the UK, is pleased to announce that further to the Placing Announcement earlier today, the Bookbuild has been successful and is now closed. The Company has successfully placed 43,243,243 Ordinary Shares at an Issue Price of 37 pence per share, raising gross proceeds of £16m. 

The Placing was oversubscribed and was supported by existing as well as new Shareholders and was conducted through an accelerated bookbuild process. GMP FirstEnergy, Canaccord and WH Ireland acted as joint brokers in relation to the Placing.

The following directors have participated in the placing.

·      Majid Shafiq - 143,765 Ordinary Shares

·      David Knox - 272,767 Ordinary Shares

·      Richard Ames - 204,575 Ordinary Shares

·      Neill Carson - 57,538 Ordinary Shares

The directors' participation is a related party transaction under the AIM Rules. Graham Heath, as the independent director to the transaction, considers, having consulted with WH Ireland, that the terms of the transaction are fair and reasonable so far as shareholders are concerned.

Application will be made to the London Stock Exchange for the admission of the New Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM.

It is expected that Admission of the First Tranche of 11,005,527 New Ordinary Shares will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 18 March 2019 and that dealings in such New Ordinary Shares will also commence at that time.

It is expected that, subject to the passing of the resolutions to be proposed at the General Meeting to be held on 29 March 2019, Admission of the Second Tranche of 32,237,716 New Ordinary Shares will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 1 April 2019 and that dealings will also commence at that time.

A circular containing notice of the General Meeting, together with full details of the Placing, will be posted to Shareholders shortly.

In order to provide an opportunity for those Shareholders who have not been able to participate in the Placing to invest further in i3, the Company intends to conduct an Open Offer to raise up to £2 million of additional funds for the Company.  Further details of the Open Offer will be announced by the Company in due course, together with the despatch of a circular to shareholders setting out the terms of the Open Offer with instructions as to how to participate. The Company's ability to complete the Open Offer will be dependent on the passing of the necessary resolutions at the General Meeting.

Majid Shafiq, CEO of i3 Energy commented:

"We are thrilled by the strong support and interest we have received from existing and new investors for our oversubscribed Placing and look forward to welcoming our new investors to the register.

"i3 is about to enter the most exciting and active operational period in its history. The proceeds of the Placing, together with sums to be drawn under the previously announced proposed debt facilities, will allow i3 to target over 500 million barrels of oil in place at Liberator and Serenity through our three well drilling programme this summer.

"This funding will also grant i3 the flexibility to drill the upcoming wells at up to 100% working interest while at the same time will provide us the ability to negotiate terms with potential joint venture partners from a position of financial strength and without jeopardising the timeframe for the drilling programme or unnecessarily diluting the Company's interests in our projects.

"We look forward to updating shareholders as we progress our transformational operational plans and our joint venture and debt facility discussions."

In accordance with the provisions of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the Financial Conduct Authority, the Company confirms that, following the issue of the First Tranche of New Ordinary Shares on 18 March 2019, its issued ordinary share capital will comprise 52,022,965 Ordinary Shares of £0.0001 each. All of the Ordinary Shares have equal voting rights and none of the Ordinary Shares are held in Treasury. The total number of voting rights in the Company will therefore be 52,022,965 on Admission of the First Tranche of New Ordinary Shares. The above figure may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations to determine if they are required to notify their interests in, or change to their interest in, the Company from 18 March 2019. A further announcement will be made following the General Meeting to update the total number of voting rights in the Company for the Second Tranche of New Ordinary Shares. 

ENDS

CONTACT DETAILS:

	i3 Energy plc
	Majid Shafiq (CEO) / Graham Heath (CFO)	c/o Camarco Tel: [phone]
	Canaccord Genuity Limited (Joint Broker)
	Henry Fitzgerald- O'Connor, James Asensio	Tel: [phone]
	GMP FirstEnergy (Joint Broker)
	Jonathan Wright	Tel: [phone]
	WH Ireland Limited (Nomad and Joint Broker)
	James Joyce, James Sinclair-Ford	Tel: [phone]
	Camarco Georgia Edmonds, Jane Glover, James Crothers	Tel: [phone]

Notes to Editors: i3 is an oil and gas development company initially focused on the North Sea. The Company's core asset is the Greater Liberator Area, located in Blocks 13/23d and 13/23c, containing 11 MMBO of 2P Reserves, 22 MMBO of 2C Contingent Resources and 47 MMBO of mid-case Prospective Resources. The Greater Liberator Area consists of the Liberator oil field discovered by well 13/23d-8 and the Liberator West extension, both of which i3 hold a 100% working interest in. The Company's strategy is to acquire high quality, low risk producing and development assets, to broaden its portfolio and grow its reserves and production. The information contained within this announcement is deemed by the Company to constitute inside information under the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014.

 

END

 

 

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