Result of EGM
Rurelec PLC
29 July 2005
29 July, 2005
Rurelec Plc
('Rurelec' or 'the Company')
Result of EGM
Acquisition of 50% interest in Patagonia Energy
GBP3.5m Placing
The Board of Rurelec PLC, the company established to develop rural
electrification projects in Latin America, announces that at the Extraordinary
General Meeting of the Company held today, 29 July 2005, the three Ordinary
Resolutions and the Special Resolution were approved by shareholders.
Ordinary Resolution 1 approved the acquisition by Rurelec of fifty percent of
the issued share capital of Patagonia Energy Limited from Basic. Patagonia
Energy wholly owns directly (and indirectly through Electrica) Energia del Sur
('EDS'), which owns and operates a generating plant supplying electricity in the
isolated electricity system of Southern Patagonia, Argentina. The generating
plant was built in 1995 and comprises two General Electric MS6001B gas turbines
in open cycle, capable of generating up to 77MW.
The consideration of USD 6 million in cash is payable in two or more tranches
depending on the profitability of EDS. The first tranche is fixed at USD 4.5
million and is due upon Admission. The timing of subsequent payments of a
further USD1.5 million will vary according to the future profits of EDS. As a
result Rurelec and Basic will be joint venture partners in Patagonia Energy.
Ordinary Resolutions 2 and 3 permit the Directors to increase the authorized
share capital of the Company from GBP600,000 to GBP850,000 by the creation of a
further 12,500,000 ordinary shares of 2 pence each and to allot shares within
certain limits. The Special Resolution also authorises the Directors to allot
shares, again within agreed limits.
Placing
In order to finance the acquisition of Patagonia Energy, the Company has raised,
before expenses, GBP3.5 millions by issuing 8,750,000 new Ordinary Shares ('the
Placing Shares') through Hichens Harrison & Co plc. The Placing Shares will rank
pari passu in all respects with Existing Ordinary Shares in the Company.
Key Statistics
Placing Price 40p
Number of Placing Shares 8,750,000
Number of Common Shares in issue immediately following the
Placing 21,350,000
Percentage of Enlarged Share Capital attributable to the
Placing 41%.
Market Capitalisation of the Company at the Placing Price on GBP8,540,000
Admission
Gross proceeds of the Placing GBP3,500,000
Estimated net proceeds of the Placing receivable by the Company GBP3,020,000
The Placing Shares are expected to be Admitted to AIM and to start trading at
08:00, Monday 1 August 2005.
Jimmy West, Chairman of Rurelec, commented: 'We are delighted with the
successful Placing which enables us to make this transformational acquisition
for the Company. Rurelec is already engaged in building Greenfield power plants
in Bolivia but the EDS acquisition gives us an entry into Argentina with an
established, cash producing plant. Rurelec is changing from just a development
Company to a utility, the only utility listed on AIM, with a real power
production business offering both growth prospects and dividends'.
For further information, please contact:
Rurelec PLC Daniel Stewart & Co plc
Peter Earl, Managing Director Paul Shackleton
+44 (0) 20 7793 7676 +44 (0) 20 7374 6789
Parkgreen Communications Hichens Harrison & Co. plc
Justine Howarth / Brendan McNamara Christian Dennis
+44 (0) 20 7493 3713 +44 (0) 20 7588 5171
Notes to Editors
About Rurelec
Rurelec PLC was established to develop rural electrification projects in Latin
America and isolated generation projects in Latin America and was admitted to
trading on AIM on 18 August 2004. Rurelec's management team has experience in
developing international power projects and specifically in the electricity
sector in Latin America. It currently operates in Argentina and Bolivia and is
developing opportunities in Peru and Brazil.
Argentina
• Patagonia Energy - 50 per cent indirect interest in Central Termica
Patagonia, a 77 MW gas-fired power plant which supplies electricity to the
isolated electricity system of Southern Patagonia, Argentina
Bolivia
• Following the purchase of ESA from Guaracachi in October 2004, Rurelec
owns two 3 MW Worthington dual fuel motors - small machines which are suitable
for rural generation and which will be redeployed in Trinidad, Central Bolivia
• Three Jenbacher engines, each with a gross generation capacity of 2
MW, which are intended to be installed in Yacuiba, Southern Bolivia, where gas
supplies are available and shortages of power exist. Negotiations leading to
the deployment of these machines are ongoing.
About Patagonia Energy
Patagonia Energy Limited is a company registered in the British Virgin Islands.
Patagonia Energy directly (and indirectly through Electrica) wholly owns EDS, a
generating company located in Comodoro Rivadavia, whose only asset is Central
Termica Patagonia, a gas-fired power plant located near the centre of the
isolated electricity system in southern Patagonia. Electrica is a non-trading
intermediate holding company, which directly owns 60 per cent. of EDS. Patagonia
Energy is currently owned by Basic. Patagonia Energy acquired EDS and Electrica
in October 2004 from Xcel Energy, a large United States electricity utility.
About Basic
Basic Energy Limited is a private company organised and existing under the laws
of the Bahamas. Its energy interests include power plants in the Dominican
Republic.
About the Argentinean electricity market
Argentina's electricity industry was restructured in 1992, and now comprises
over 35 individual generating companies formed from the break-up of the former
state-owned entities.
Compania Administradora del Mercado Mayorista Electrico S.A. ('CAMMESSA') is the
Wholesale Power Market Administrative Partnership in charge of the
administration and coordinated operation of MEM (the wholesale electricity
market in the Argentine electricity market, the participants in which are the
generators, the distributors, the transmission companies, the large consumers
(more than 50 KW) and the marketers. The MEM consists of both a contract and a
spot market) and MEMSP (the Southern Patagonian wholesale electricity market in
which the participants are the generators, the distributors, the transmission
companies, the large consumers (more than 50 KW) and the marketers active within
the isolated southern system. The MEMSP consists of both a contract and a spot
market) according to established guidelines. Its members are the national
government of Argentina and four associations representing the generators, the
transmission companies, the distributors and the marketers.
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange