TIDMSAVP
RNS Number : 5479T
Savannah Petroleum PLC
15 November 2019
15 November 2019
Savannah Petroleum PLC
("Savannah" or "the Company")
Completion of Seven Energy Transaction
Savannah becomes full-cycle E&P company following
transformational acquisition
Savannah Petroleum PLC, the British independent oil & gas
company focused around activities in Niger and Nigeria, is pleased
to announce the completion of the Seven Energy Transaction (the
"Transaction").
At a court hearing on 13 November, administrators were appointed
to Seven Energy International Limited and yesterday effected the
transfer of the Seven Assets to group companies controlled by
Savannah and AIIM.
Following this step, final long-form documentation with respect
to the Transaction was executed in accordance with the agreed steps
as set out in the Implementation Agreement, and the Transaction has
now been completed.
Transaction Highlights
Following completion of the Transaction, Savannah now owns the
Seven Assets, which comprise:
-- An 80% interest in Seven Uquo Gas Limited ("SUGL") which in
turn holds a 40% participating interest in the Uquo field located
in South East Nigeria (with SUGL assuming responsibility for all
operations of the gas project at the Uquo field following the
occurrence of the Frontier Transaction);
-- A 51% interest in the Stubb Creek field located in South East
Nigeria (through 100% ownership of Universal Energy Resources
Limited); and
-- An 80% interest in the Accugas midstream business, comprising
the 200 mmscfd Uquo gas processing facility, a c.260km pipeline
network and long-term gas sales agreements with downstream
customers.
One of Savannah's partners in the Transaction is African
Infrastructure Investment Managers ("AIIM") who, as part of the
Transaction completion, acquired 20% interests in SUGL and Accugas
in return for cash consideration to Savannah of US$54m which has
now been received.
The Transaction gives Savannah:
-- A material producing asset base which is expected to generate
significant asset-level free cash flows, complementing the
Company's prolific Niger exploration and development assets;
-- Exposure to significant upside potential, through both volume
and margin uplift, via the utilisation of additional capacity
within Accugas' infrastructure; and
-- A strong platform in the well-established and high potential Nigerian oil and gas industry.
Issue of new Ordinary Shares, Admission to Trading and Total
Voting Rights
As previously anticipated, 116,638,985 new Ordinary Shares have
been issued in aggregate as part of the Transaction completion
process (the "Consideration Shares").
Application for the admission to trading on AIM of 90,666,308
Consideration shares has been made and is expected to become
effective at 8.00 a.m. on 18 November 2019. Application for
admission to trading on AIM will be made for the 25,972,677
remaining Consideration Shares and it is expected that such
admission will take effect at 8.00 a.m. on or around 21 November
2019.
Following the issue of the Consideration Shares, the Company
will have 996,408,412 Ordinary Shares in issue and there are no
shares held in Treasury. This will be the total number of voting
rights in the Company and may be used by Shareholders as the
denominator for the calculations by which they determine if they
are required to notify their interest in, or change to their
interest in, the Company under the FCA's Disclosure Rules and the
Transparency Rules.
Following the completion of the Transaction, the Company is
required to publish a Supplemental Admission Document, which is
progressing well and is intended to be published in the coming
months.
Andrew Knott, CEO of Savannah Petroleum, said:
"We are very pleased to have completed the Seven Energy
Transaction. The deal transforms Savannah into a full-cycle E&P
company in West Africa and marks the start of a very exciting time
for us. We have acquired a business with great people and a strong
set of exploration, appraisal, development and production assets
which are expected to be highly cash flow generative for the
Company.
I would like to thank all of our staff, advisers and
stakeholders for their hard work and cooperation throughout the
Transaction. I am very excited for the future of our business and
the growth potential it contains, and I look forward to updating
shareholders on Company developments going forward."
Steve Jenkins, Chairman of Savannah Petroleum, said:
"Today marks a significant milestone in Savannah's corporate
history and elevates the Company to being a leading oil and gas
producer in the London market. We can now focus on further
developing the high quality, world class assets that we have in our
portfolio, which we believe this has the potential to deliver
material long-term returns for our stakeholders.
In Nigeria, our focus is on delivering further growth in the
Company's revenue base, and as we continue to develop in country we
see strong potential for additional resource growth over time. In
Niger, we look forward to recommencing activity in 2020, with
expected delivery of first oil from R3 East and a multi-well
exploration drilling campaign. Given the recently signed
Niger-Benin export pipeline Transportation Convention, we believe
this is a very exciting time for Niger's oil and gas industry and
we look forward to updating our investors on our plans in country
in due course.
I would like to echo Andrew's statement in thanking all of our
stakeholders for their hard work and support in completing this
transaction."
The Seven Energy Transaction refers to the acquisition by
Savannah of the Seven Assets and the restructuring of Seven
Energy's existing indebtedness, as more fully described in the
Company's Admission Document dated 22 December 2017 and per the
Company's RNS announcements dated 20 September 2018 (specifically
relating to the Frontier Transaction and the buy-out of minority
shareholders in Universal Energy Resources Limited) and 21 December
2018 (specifically relating to the acquisition of an additional 60%
interest in Accugas as well as the sale of a 20% interest in SUGL
and Accugas to AIIM). Unless otherwise defined, capitalised terms
in this announcement are per the above Admission Document and RNS
announcements.
For further information contact:
Savannah Petroleum +44 (0) 20 3817 9844
Andrew Knott, CEO
Isatou Semega-Janneh, CFO
Jessica Ross, VP Corporate Affairs
Strand Hanson (Nominated Adviser) +44 (0) 20 7409 3494
Rory Murphy
James Spinney
Ritchie Balmer
Mirabaud (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7878 3362
Peter Krens
Ed Haig-Thomas
Jefferies International Limited
(Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7029 8000
Tony White
Will Soutar
Numis Securities (Joint Broker) +44 (0) 20 7260 1000
John Prior
Emily Morris
Alamgir Ahmed
Celicourt Communications +44 (0) 20 8434 2754
Mark Antelme
Jimmy Lea
Ollie Mills
The information contained within this announcement is considered
to be inside information prior to its
release, as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation
No.596/2014, and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's
obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.
Notes to Editors:
About Savannah Petroleum
Savannah Petroleum PLC is an AIM listed oil and gas company with
exploration and production assets in Niger and Nigeria. Savannah's
flagship assets include the R1/R2 and R3/R4 PSCs (which cover c.50%
of the highly prospective Agadem Rift Basin ("ARB") of South East
Niger) and interests in the cash flow generative Uquo and Stubb
Creek oil and gas fields and an interest in the Accugas midstream
business in South East Nigeria from Seven Energy.
Further information on Savannah Petroleum PLC can be found on
the Company's website:
http://www.savannah-petroleum.com/en/index.php
This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the
London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct
Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United
Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution
of this information may apply. For further information, please
contact rns@lseg.com or visit www.rns.com.
END
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