Placing to raise US$2.5 million

RNS Number : 9555S

Bahamas Petroleum Company PLC

15 March 2019

 

15 March 2019

Bahamas Petroleum Company plc ("BPC" or the "Company")

Placing to raise US$2.5 million   

Bahamas Petroleum Company plc, the oil and gas exploration company with a significant prospective resource in licences in The Commonwealth of The Bahamas ("The Bahamas"), is pleased to announce that it has raised US$2.54 million before expenses through a firm placing of 120,000,000 new ordinary shares of 0.002p each ("Ordinary Shares") (the "Placing Shares") at a price of 1.6p each (the "Placing").

Highlights of the Placing:

·     Placing to raise gross proceeds of US$2.54 million through the issue of 120,000,000 Placing Shares at a price of 1.6p each.

·     Proceeds of the Placing will be used to fund the Company as it seeks to secure a farm-in partner to finance an initial exploratory well on the Company's four southern licences in The Bahamas (the "Licences").

·     BPC is confident of being able to attract a farm-in partner now its licences have been extended to 31 December 2020.

·     Discussions are ongoing with a number of potential farm-in partners.

Placing Summary

The Placing will raise, in aggregate, $2.544 million before expenses through the placing of, in aggregate, 120,000,000 new Ordinary Shares at a price of 1.6p per share (the "Placing"). The Placing Shares to be issued will rank pari passu in all respects with the Company's existing Ordinary Shares and will represent approximately 7.1per cent. of the Company's enlarged issued ordinary share capital, following admission of the Placing Shares. 7.2 million unlisted warrants to subscribe for new Ordinary Shares at the Placing Price per share for a period of 24 months from the earlier of the business day following passing of the relevant resolutions at the Company's next AGM or 1 January 2020, are to be issued to Shore Capital as part compensation for services provided under the Placing.  

Application will be made for the 120,000,000 Placing Shares to be admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange ("AIM") and it is expected that admission will take place and trading in the Placing Shares will commence from 8:00am on 22 March 2019 ("Admission").

Total Voting Rights

Following the Admission, the Company's issued share capital will consist of 1,692,719,096 Ordinary Shares, with each Ordinary Share carrying the right to one vote. The Company does not hold any Ordinary Shares in treasury. This figure of 1,692,719,096 Ordinary Shares may therefore 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 in their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules ("DTRs").

Working Capital

The directors consider that the proceeds of the placing, together with the Company's existing financial resources will provide sufficient working capital for its currently anticipated requirements for at least the next 12 months.  Refer to Note 1 below for additional details in relation to working capital.

Simon Potter, Chief Executive Officer commented:

"Our focus at Bahamas Petroleum remains clear and unwavering: to drill an initial exploration well on our highly prospective acreage in The Bahamas.

Now more than ever, we believe that the ingredients for success are present. We have a world-class drill-ready asset, with multi-billion barrel potential as certified by third parties. We have a robust technical case, as endorsed by the interest to-date of potential partners. The Bahamian regulatory regime is fully enacted, and we have a clear licence term through to the end of 2020, thus providing potential farm out partners with clarity as to tenure, term, schedule and operating environment. Now, with today's placing, we have secured the funds needed as we continue to seek a farm-out agreement, and thereafter move forward to drilling of the initial exploration well and realising the offshore potential in The Bahamas.

I would like to thank existing and new shareholders for their continued support and I look forward to updating them on further progress in due course."

Ends

For further information, please contact:

Bahamas Petroleum Company plc Simon Potter, Chief Executive Officer	Tel: [phone]
Strand Hanson Limited - Nomad Rory Murphy / James Spinney	Tel: [phone]
Shore Capital Stockbrokers Limited - Broker Jerry Keen / Toby Gibbs	Tel: [phone]
CAMARCO Billy Clegg / James Crothers	Tel: [phone]

Note 1: Additional Details in relation to Working Capital

In relation to working capital, as announced on 22 February 2019 the Company has received formal notification from the Government of The Bahamas (the "Government") that the term of the second exploration period of the Licences is extended until 31 December 2020. 

During this extension, the Company and the Government must, in the coming months:

(i)         establish a forward process and schedule for 2019 and 2020 for the consideration and finalisation of the Environmental Authorisation previously submitted by the Company in April 2018, in accordance with the relevant Act and Regulations, and

(ii)        determine any additional licence fees that may be payable by the Company up to the end of 2020, when reconciled against:

a.   Licence fees amount previously paid in good faith by the Company (approximately US$1.05 million) despite the inability to undertake Licence activities,

b.   Licence fee levels previously established with the Government (being US$250,000 per Licence per annum) as may be modified in view of changed industry circumstances since Licence fee levels were initially proposed in 2013 under very different then prevailing circumstances,

c.   Periods in which Licence activities were unable to be undertaken owing to various disruptions beyond the control or discretion of the Company, and during which Licence fees were correspondingly abated, and

d.   Other amounts presently held on account by the Government in relation to various other matters (approximately US$620,000).

(Note: these items have previously been identified in the relevant Company annual accounts in the periods 2012 - 2018).

In 2018 the Company submitted to the Government a proposed reconciliation in respect of all of the above items, which indicated a balance payment due to the Government of approximately US$200,000 for Licence fees up to the end of 2020.

This amount, along with consideration of various sensitivities, has been taken into account in determining the adequacy of working capital for the next 12 months.

 

END

 

 

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