Proposed placing of 41,688,171 new
ordinary shares at 6p per share (the "Placing")
�
Following the
completion of documentation and the subsequent raising of finance the Persian
Gold suspension on AIM has been lifted
�
A fundraising of �2.7m
at 6p a share has been finalised
�
Following court and
shareholder approvals, Persian Gold will acquire Hydrocarbon Exploration plc
("HyEx") for �4.56m in an all-share
deal on the basis of 2,800 new Persian Gold ordinary shares for every one HyEx share. This is expected to be completed in early April
�
The Company proposes to
change its name to 'Clontarf Energy'. The enlarged
group is expected to have a market cap of approximately �12m
�
Since the Acquisition
was announced, HyEx has won two exploration blocks in
Peru and there has been a significant gas discovery on HyEx
ground in El Dorado, Bolivia
�
Clontarf Energy will be an oil and gas
focused venture with operations in Bolivia, Peru and Ghana
�
The existing gold /
copper activities in Iran are also being retained
�
Shore Capital appointed
as Nomad and Joint Broker to the Company; Optiva
Securities to act as Joint Broker to the Company
John Teeling,
Chairman, commented:
"Patience is a virtue, which I
hope will be rewarded. The new Persian Gold, when it is renamed Clontarf Energy, will be an aggressive oil and gas explorer
in some of the most attractive energy areas in the world. The revitalised company will have 60% of the Tano 2A block in Ghana, close to the massive Tullow / Kosmos
discoveries. HyEx has recently been awarded two
exploration blocks in Peru, 183 and 188, both of which are close to producers.
Each block has a history of exploration. In Bolivia, there has been a
further discovery on what will be our 10% owned El Dorado gas discovery.
Production has already begun from existing wells on the licence.
We are not ignoring the other
activities in the portfolio. We continue to monitor and press our case
for discovery certificates in Iran; while in the US negotiations are ongoing to
resolve the dispute of certain assets. Neither of these are material to
the future.
Completing legal, financial and
technical due diligence in three continents, combined with holiday periods
extended the time to completion, but we are there now. A weighty
prospectus will be dispatched to all shareholders and following shareholder and
court approvals, the deal will be finalised.
Delay is always frustrating, but the
new Peruvian blocks and Bolivian gas discoveries are excellent
compensation."
Enquiries:
Persian
Gold plc
John Teeling,
Chairman
David Horgan, Managing Director
|
+353 (0) 1
833 2833
+353 (0) 1
833 2833
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Nominated
Adviser and Joint Broker
Shore Capital
Pascal Keane
Toby Gibbs
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+44 (0)20 7408 4090
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Joint Broker
Optiva Securities Limited
Jeremy King
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+44(0)20 3137 1904
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College Hill
Nick Elwes
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+44 (0)20 7457 2020
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