Director Appointment

RNS Number : 3032J

Solo Oil Plc

04 December 2018

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                       

4 December 2018

SOLO OIL PLC

("Solo" or the "Company")

Director Appointment

Solo Oil (AIM: SOLO), the natural resources investment company focused on acquiring and developing a diverse global non-operated portfolio of strategic oil and gas assets, is pleased to announce the appointment of Tom Reynolds as an Independent Non-Executive Director.

Mr Reynolds is a Chartered Engineer with over 25 years' experience in the energy sector, including a range of technical and commercial roles with BP plc, Total SA and British Nuclear Fuels plc. He has also held management positions at private equity investment and advisory firms, including 3i plc, and specialises in strategic planning, investment management and cross-border M&A transaction execution in the oil, gas, energy and infrastructure sectors.  

Mr Reynolds has considerable experience in the public markets, particularly in the oil & gas sector, including holding board seats on various companies listed in London, Oslo and Toronto. Most recently, he was CEO of Iona Energy Inc. and, immediately prior to that, he was CEO of Bridge Energy ASA, which Mr Reynolds grew through a series of acquisitions before listing the group in both Oslo and London, prior to its c.US$150m sale to HitechVision-backed Spike Exploration Holding AS in 2013, a valuation which represented a c. 50% share price premium.

Alastair Ferguson, Solo Oil Chairman, commented:

"I am delighted to welcome Tom as our new Independent Non-Executive Director. We understand the importance of having an independent influence on the Board, particularly as we seek to execute our newly refined strategy. We are confident that Tom's considerable industry and capital markets experience will add value to the Solo Board as we take the Company forward on a sustainable path for long-term growth."

Further information on Thomas Hamilton Reynolds as required to be disclosed in accordance with Schedule 2 (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies:

Thomas Reynolds, age 48, holds or has held directorships in the past five years as follows:

Details of Current Directorships and Partnerships	Details of Previous Directorships and Partnerships (last 5 years)
Diverse Energy Solutions Limited	Iona Energy Inc.
RAB Microfluidics Limited	Iona UK Developments Co Limited
Quixote Advisers Limited	Iona UK Huntington Limited
	Decipher Production Limited
	Quixote Associates Limited
	Reynolds Spence Limited
	Bridge Energy ASA
	Bridge Energy Norge AS
	Verus Petroleum UK Limited
	Verus Petroleum Oil & Gas Limited
	Verus Petroleum (CNS) Limited
	Verus Petroleum (SNS) Limited
	Verus Petroleum Enterprises (North Sea) Limited
	Verus Petroleum (Production) Limited
	Verus Petroleum (Exploration) Limited
	Beaconsfield Collections Limited

Together with his wife, Mr Reynolds holds 2,464,108 ordinary shares in the capital of Solo Oil plc, equating to approximately 0.4% of the Company's issued share capital.

Tom Reynolds was the Chief Executive Officer, and a director, of Iona Energy, Inc ("Iona"), a Canada incorporated oil and gas company with assets in the UK and North Sea, which entered insolvency proceedings in December 2015. In January 2016, administrators were assigned to Iona's UK subsidiaries, and the main subsidiary, Iona Energy Company (UK) Limited, was placed into a creditors voluntary arrangement in June 2016 which concluded in April 2017 with a net shortfall to creditors of c. £38.281 million. Related to the insolvency, in December 2015, a cease trade order was issued against Iona by the Alberta Securities Commission after Iona failed to file financial statements and other documents on time.

No further information in connection with his appointment is required to be disclosed under Schedule Two, paragraph (g) (i) - (viii) of the AIM Rules for Companies.

This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of Regulation (EU) 596/2014.

For further information, please visit www.solooil.co.uk or contact:

Solo Oil plc	[phone]
Dan Maling, Managing Director
Alastair Ferguson, Non-Executive Chairman
Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated & Financial Adviser)	[phone]
James Spinney
Ritchie Balmer
Frederick Twist
Shore Capital (Broker)	[phone]
Jerry Keen
Buchanan (PR)	[phone]
Ben Romney
Chris Judd
Henry Wilson

Notes to Editors:

Solo Oil plc

Solo is a natural resources investment company with a diverse portfolio of onshore assets, principally in Europe and Africa. The Company seeks to deliver returns through early stage investment in promising projects and uses management's own sector expertise to assist in strategic asset development. Solo's portfolio currently includes extensive interests in the prolific Ruvuma Basin in Tanzania, the Horse Hill oil discovery in the Weald Basin, Helium One Limited, the Tanzanian helium exploration company, and Kiliwani North, a natural gas producing project in Tanzania.   

Tom Reynolds

Tom started his career in 1991 in a variety of commercial, marketing and technical roles with British Nuclear Fuels. In 1997, he progressed to Total SA, holding a number of commercial roles, including portfolio management and acquisition and divestment processes, before joining BP plc in 2000 as commercial manager of its Fionaven and Schiehallion fields. He also originated and negotiated the commercial framework for the new West of Shetlands Pipeline System, including third party field tariff arrangements.

He joined 3i plc as an investment manager in early 2003, making a pre-IPO investment in Pearl Energy and a private placement in CH4 Energy Limited to support the acquisition of the Markham Field. From 2004 until 2008, Mr Reynolds served as CIO of Energy Development Partners, structuring, marketing and successfully closing EDP's first equity fund of US$350m as a novel approach to development project finance on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf ("UKCS").

In 2008, Tom led the UK team of Silverstone Energy Limited, delivering production and reserve growth within the North Sea and, subsequently, in 2010, managed its merger with Oslo-listed Bridge Energy AS and a further doubling of production through the acquisition of a series of high margin assets.  Following a successful secondary listing on AIM, he grew the enlarged business through acquisition and successful delivered its sale in 2013 to Spike Exploration Holding AS, a private company backed by HitechVision.  The group was successfully sold for approximately US$150m, a c.50% premium over its pre-approach share price.  In 2014, he joined Iona Energy, Inc., a distressed UKCS player, replacing the management team and leading turnaround activities, including the financial restructuring on its US$350m high yield bond.

More recently, Mr Reynolds has been involved in providing strategic, valuation, investment and corporate finance advise to a broader range of energy companies including as founder and non-executive chairman of Diverse Energy Solutions Limited, a solar energy company seeking to acquire a portfolio of solar generation capacity in the UK; non-executive director of RAB Microfluidics, a developer and manufacturer of oil analysis and characterisation devices; strategic adviser to Lodbrok Capital, a European complex credit fund manage; board adviser to Enkelt Limited, a specialist software developer within the asset management sector; board adviser to Bramble Energy Limited, a PEM fuel cell manufacturing company spin out from Imperial College London; and he also serves as a mentor to early stage companies within The Oil & Gas Technology Centre (www.theOGTC.com) sponsored start-up programme.

Mr Reynolds is a Chartered Member of the Institution of Chemical Engineers and holds a first class honours degree in Chemical and Process Engineering from the University of Strathclyde.

 

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