Primorus Investments plc
("Primorus" or the "Company")
Sale of 5% interest in HHDL to UKOG PLC for £1,375,000 in Shares and Cash
Primorus Investments plc (AIM: PRIM, NEX: PRIM) is pleased to report that the Company has entered into a conditional sale and purchase agreement ("SPA") to dispose of its 5% interest in Horse Hill Developments Limited ("HHDL") to UK Oil and Gas plc ("UKOG"), a company admitted to trading on AIM. UKOG already holds a 49.9% interest in HHDL which in turn holds a 65% interest in two onshore UK petroleum exploration licences, PEDL 137 and PEDL 246, which contain the Horse Hill oil discovery.
UKOG has agreed to pay Primorus an aggregate consideration of GBP1,375,000, made up of GBP375,000 in cash and the balance of GBP1,000,000 by way of 57,142,857 UKOG shares priced at 1.75P being the bid price at the close of trade on 16 August. The SPA is conditional on the written consent of each of the members of HHDL to the sale of shares as set out in HHDL's articles of association.
Once the disposal is completed, Primorus' will no longer hold a direct interest in HHDL but will retain exposure to the project via share ownership in UKOG and Solo Oil plc.
Alastair Clayton, executive director of Primorus, commented "We are delighted to have undertaken today's conditional disposal. This transaction is a fantastic result for our shareholders as it vastly improves the liquidity of our investment portfolio whilst we retain upside exposure through ownership of a large number of shares in UKOG.
We decided to accept UKOG's proposal in light of the excellent initial results for the Portland released to market on 18 July and the upcoming Kimmeridge long-term flow test. We have sought to recover our 2018 cash calls to the extended well test ("EWT") budget and exchange our exposure to the EWT from a direct interest in HHDL to £1,000,000 (57,142,857) shares in UKOG.
We are expecting excellent results from the EWT flow test and by holding UKOG shares in lieu of the direct interest in HHDL we believe that should the EWT continue to perform as expected we can leverage directly off any positive movements the UKOG share price without having to contribute significant cash payments directly to the HHDL budget.
Furthermore we gain exposure to UKOG's other projects including the advanced Broadford Bridge, also in the Weald Basin."
This announcement contains inside information for the purposes of Article 7 of EU Regulation 596/2014.
The directors of Primorus accept responsibility for this announcement.
For further information, please contact:
Primorus Investments plc: |
+44 (0) 20 7440 0640 |
Alastair Clayton |
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Nominated Adviser: |
+44 (0) 20 7213 0880 |
Cairn Financial Advisers LLP |
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James Caithie / Sandy Jamieson / Richard Nash |
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Broker: |
+44 (0) 20 3621 4120 |
Turner Pope Investments Limited |
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Andy Thacker |
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