(Alliance News) - Range Resources Ltd said Thursday it has been denied a request to have shares reinstated on the Australian Securities Exchange by Australian regulators due to concerns over the company's financial condition.
Shares in Range Resources were down 10% in London on Thursday at 0.067 pence each.
Earlier this week, Range Resources said it had agreed to sell its Trinidad business for USD2.5 million to LandOcean Energy Services Co Ltd to offset debt.
Range and LandOcean also agreed to offset approximately USD91 million of debt and payables due from Range to LandOcean.
Range had a previous debt restructuring agreement with LandOcean, but it was conditional on the acquisition of an educational business in China. When the acquisition fell through in July, it necessitated a new solution to Range's debt.
At the start of August, the stock exchange in Australia refused to restore Range's shares after the acquisition fell through due to debt concerns.
Now that the deal is back on, Range was hoping to be reinstated to the stock exchange in Sydney.
"Following this request, ASX informed the company that it is not willing to reinstate Range's securities to trading until ASX is satisfied that the company's financial condition is adequate, which primarily will require the company to complete the transaction," the company said.
Government and shareholder approval is still required for the deal to go ahead, with a shareholder meeting expected in November.
All debt agreements between Range and LandOcean have been deferred until the deal completes and, once the deal is complete, Range's "indebtedness will be fully extinguished and all debt agreements will be terminated".
