Completion of the Acquisition and the Placing

RNS Number : 6580C

Igas Energy PLC

09 March 2011

 



9 March 2011

IGas Energy plc

("IGas" or the "Company")

Completion of the Acquisition and the Placing

The Board of IGas is pleased to announce that further to the announcement made on 4 March 2011 the acquisition of the entire issued share capital of Nexen Exploration UK Limited (the "Acquisition") has today become unconditional (save for the condition relating to Admission (defined below)) and will complete tomorrow in accordance with its terms on Admission taking place.

39,714,290 new ordinary shares of 50p each have been allotted to Nexen Petroleum U.K. Limited credited as fully paid (the "Consideration Shares") in consideration for the Acquisition. Application had previously been made to the London Stock Exchange plc for the Consideration Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission") and dealings in the Consideration Shares will commence on 10 March 2011.

The Placing announced on 11^th February 2011, raising gross proceeds of £20.625 million, has, as a consequence of the Acquisition becoming unconditional (save only as to Admission), also become unconditional save as to its own condition relating to Admission. Application had previously been made to the London Stock Exchange plc for the 27,500,000  new ordinary shares of 50p each (the "Placing Shares") to be admitted to trading on AIM and dealings in the Placing Shares will commence on 10 March 2011. 

The Consideration Shares and the Placing Shares rank pari passu in all respects with the existing issued ordinary shares of IGas.

Following completion of the Placing and the Acquisition, the Company's issued share capital will amount to 160,323,721 ordinary shares, which is the figure that may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company.

The interests in the issued ordinary share capital of the Company of each of the Directors and their families within the meaning of the AIM Rules for Companies (all of which, unless otherwise stated) are beneficial and the interests they are expected to have following Admission are or will be as follows:

Number of

IGAS Shares                          %

Francis Gugen                                     27,615,764                             17.23

Andrew Austin                                     11,429,253                              7.13

Brent Cheshire                                    11,429,253                              7.13

Richard Armstrong                             58,460                                     0.04

John Bryant                                         50,370                                     0.03

John Hamilton                                     85,000                                     0.05

John Blaymires                                   nil                                             nil

* John Hamilton is beneficially interested in 85,000 Ordinary Shares out of a total of 14,329,135 held by Levine Capital Management Limited, whom he is deemed to be associated for these purposes.

Ends

For further information please contact:

IGas Energy Plc Andrew  Austin, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
RBS Hoare Govett Stephen Bowler/ John MacGowan	Tel: [phone]
Kreab Gavin Anderson Ken Cronin/ Kate Hill/ Anthony Hughes	Tel: [phone]

 NOTES TO THE EDITOR

IGas was set up to produce and market domestic sourced gas, primarily from unconventional reservoirs, particularly coal bed methane. IGas is now producing gas from its pilot production site at Doe Green in Warrington and selling electricity through its on-site generation, a UK first from CBM. Initial production rates indicate that the Company should exceed its threshold for commerciality.

Following the completion of the Acquisition, IGas will have 100 per cent ownership interests in eleven PEDLs in the UK, wholly own two methane drainage licences and have a 100 per cent interest in three offshore blocks under one seaward petroleum production licence. These licenses cover a gross area of approximately 1,756 km2. The post Acquisition mid case GIIP is 9,107Bcf (source: Equipoise Solutions Ltd), excluding any shale potential.

The coal seam both generates and traps the gas, which can be extracted by drilling into the seam and collected for use as fuel. CBM is exactly the same as other forms of natural gas, and is used to provide both industrial and domestic power and has the potential to be an important new source of energy for the UK.

Glossary

The following definitions apply throughout this announcement, unless the context requires otherwise 

Bcf	billions of standard cubic feet of gas
boe	barrel of oil equivalent
CBM	coal bed methane
CPR	competent person report
DECC	The Department for Energy and Climate Change
FDP	field development programme
GIIP	gas initially in place
PEDL	Petroleum Exploration and Development Licence
Tcf	trillions of standard cubic feet of gas

 

END

 

 

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