Last checked at 24 Jan 2020 07:00
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION AS DEFINED IN ARTICLE 7 OF THE MARKET ABUSE REGULATION NO. 596/2014 ("MAR"). UPON THE PUBLICATION OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, THIS INSIDE INFORMATION IS NOW CONSIDERED TO BE IN THE PUBLIC DOMAIN.
88 Energy Limited
Placement to Raise $5.0 million
88 Energy Limited ("88 Energy" or the "Company", ASX:88E, AIM 88E) is pleased to advise that it has successfully completed a bookbuild to domestic and international institutional and sophisticated investors to raise A$5.0 million before costs (the "Placement") through the issue of 238,095,238 ordinary shares (the "New Ordinary Shares") at a price of A$0.021 (equivalent to £0.011) per New Ordinary Share .
Capital raised pursuant to the Placement, together with the Company's existing cash reserves (A$15.9 million as at 31 December 2019, inclusive of Joint Venture cash), will be used to fund the ongoing evaluation of the conventional and unconventional prospectivity of the Company's existing assets, including its share of any potential costs (over the US$23 million farm-out cap) in respect to the Charlie-1 well, which is due to spud in February 2020, and to enable it to identify and exploit new opportunities on the North Slope of Alaska.
Strengthening the Company's balance sheet at this time provides the Company with sufficient capital to:
·; fund potential costs of the Charlie-1 appraisal well above the Premier Oil carry (carry up to a total of US$23 million) - drilling planned for February 2020 spud;
• fund lease rental payments on the Company's Alaskan acreage;
• fund interest payments on the Company's debt facility;
• fund new venture opportunities; and
·; finance the Company's ongoing working capital requirements and general and administrative overheads
Commenting on the Placement, Dave Wall, Managing Director of 88 Energy, stated:
"The decision by the Board to raise additional funds at this time was for several reasons, namely: unsolicited demand for investment at a premium to the most recent placement in September 2019; and a subsequent incremental increase in the well cost due to high grading of the quality of the evaluation program.
We would like to thank our advisers and shareholders for their continued support as we enter into this critical phase."
Hartleys Limited acted as Sole Lead Manager and Sole Bookrunner to the Placement.
The issue of the New Ordinary Shares is not subject to shareholder approval as the issuance will fall within the Company's placement capacity pursuant to ASX Listing Rule 7.1 and 7.1A. A total of 144,941,206 shares will be issued pursuant to Listing Rule 7.1 and 93,154,032 shares will be issued pursuant to Listing Rule 7.1A. The New Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu with the existing ordinary shares in the Company. Application has been made for admission of the New Ordinary Shares to trading on AIM ("Admission"), with Admission and settlement scheduled for Monday, 3 February 2020.
Following the issue of the New Ordinary Shares, the Company will have 7,109,635,562 ordinary shares in issue, all of which have voting rights. The figure of 7,109,635,562 ordinary shares may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or change their interest in, the Company.
Media and Investor Relations:
88 Energy Ltd
Dave Wall, Managing Director Tel: +61 8 9485 0990
Email: admin@88energy.com
Finlay Thomson, Investor Relations Tel: +44 7976 248471
Hartleys Ltd
Dale Bryan Tel: + 61 8 9268 2829
Cenkos Securities Tel: + 44 131 220 6939
Neil McDonald/Derrick Lee