14 January 2019
TOMCO ENERGY PLC
("TomCo" or the "Company")
Settlement of Loans and issue of shares
TomCo Energy plc (AIM: TOM), the oil shale exploration development and technology group, today announces that the loans provided by Chris Brown on 31 December 2017, 24 March 2018 and 11 April 2018 totalling £250,000 (together the "Loans") have now been settled in full (the "Settlement"). The Loans, which attracted 8% per annum interest, were due for repayment in March 2019.
Pursuant to the Settlement, Mr Brown has agreed to accept £100,000 of the Loans be converted into new ordinary shares of no par value in the Company ("Ordinary Shares") (the "Settlement Shares") at 2 pence per share, being equal to placing price of the latest placing announced on 14 December 2018, resulting in the issue of 5,000,000 new Ordinary Shares to Mr Brown, with the balance of the Loans being repaid in cash. Following the issue of the new Ordinary Shares to Mr Brown, his shareholding will increase to 10,567,400 Ordinary Shares representing 11.74% of the enlarged share capital of the Company. The Board welcomes the increase in Mr Brown's shareholding and thanks him for his continued support, as demonstrated by his willingness to convert a significant proportion of his Loan into new Ordinary Shares at the most recent Placing price.
As Mr Brown was a director and a substantial shareholder, as defined in the AIM Rules for Companies, of the Company within the last 12 months, the Settlement represents a related party transaction under Rule 13 of the AIM Rules. The directors of the Company consider, having consulted with the Company's nominated adviser, Strand Hanson Limited, that the terms of the Settlement are fair and reasonable insofar as the Company's shareholders are concerned.
Admission
The Settlement Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares and application will be made for the Settlement Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM ("Admission"). It is expected that Admission will become effective and dealings in the Settlement Shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on 18 January 2019.
Following Admission of the Settlement Shares, the Company's issued share capital will consist of 95,794,270 Ordinary Shares with voting rights. There are no Ordinary Shares held in treasury. The figure of 95,794,270 may be used by shareholders, following Admission, 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 under the Financial Conduct Authority's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Andrew Jones, TomCo's Chairman commented: "I would like to thank Mr Chris Brown for his continuing support to the Company and our strategy, as we seek to continue to progress our oil shale interests during 2019. We look forward to updating the market shortly on our work currently underway in Utah."
TomCo Energy plc
Andrew Jones (Chairman) / John Potter (CEO) +44 (0)20 3823 3635
James Harris / Richard Tulloch / James Dance +44 (0)20 7409 3494
Andy Thacker +44 (0)20 3621 4120
For further information, please visit www.tomcoenergy.com.
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014.