28 Aug 2009 13:05
Alecto Energy plc
('Alecto' or 'the Company')
Placing of shares with warrants attached
Award of share options
Alecto Energy plc, the AIM listed energy company, has conditionally raised approximately £720,000 through the placing of 657,523,869 new Ordinary Shares ('Placing Shares') at a price of 0.11p per share, with certain new and existing shareholders ('the Placing'). One warrant is being issued for every seven Placing Shares ('the Warrants'), exercisable at 0.5p per share for a period of two years from the date of admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM.
The funds raised will be used to pursue additional new investment opportunities in line with the Company's investing policy aimed at making investments in the energy sector, which may include exploration, development or production projects in oil and gas, coal, uranium and renewable energy. Alecto is primarily focussing on opportunities in Southern Africa, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Australasia and South East Asia.
Alecto Energy Chairman Malcolm James said, "This placing, which significantly improves our treasury, is the next stage of our strategy as we look to acquire projects and interests in the mining and energy sectors. We believe that there are some excellent opportunities available at the moment whereby we can utilise our enlarged Board's strengths in these sectors and its deal structuring abilities to build an exciting future for the Company."
The Placing is not a rights issue or open offer and the Placing Shares will not be offered generally to shareholders on a pre-emptive basis. The Board considers that it is in the best interests of the Company and shareholders as a whole for the funds to be raised through the Placing.
The placing price of 0.11p per share is at a premium of approximately 137% to the Company's current cash at bank per share and at a discount of 27% to 0.15p, the closing mid market price of the Company's shares when the placing price was fixed.
The Placing Shares represent approximately 70% of the Company's enlarged issued share capital. Application will be made for the admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM and it is expected that dealings in the new shares will commence at 8.00 a.m. on Friday, 4 September 2009. The Placing Shares will, when issued, rank pari passu in all respects with the existing Ordinary Shares, including the right to receive dividends and other distributions declared following Admission. No application will be made for the Warrants to be admitted to trading on AIM.
Changes in directors' share interests following the Placing are as below:
| Name of Director | Ordinary Shares prior to Placing | % | Ordinary Shares following Placing | % |
| Damian Conboy | - | - | 40,000,000 | 4.27 |
| Malcolm James | 10,630,989 | 3.79 | 10,630,989 | 1.13 |
| Toby Howell | 4,275,000 | 1.53 | 4,275,000 | 0.46 |
The total number of shares in issue and therefore the total number of voting rights following completion of the Placing will be 937,731,770.
Award of Share Options
Damian Conboy, Director, and Greg Kuenzel, Company Secretary, have respectively been granted options to subscribe for 15,000,000 and 5,000,000 Ordinary Shares in the Company at an exercise price of 0.5p per share, valid for 2 years from the date of admission of the Placing Shares to trading on AIM.
Holdings in Company
As a result of the Placing, in addition to the changes to directors' interests, there have been the following changes in the notifiable interests in the Company:
| Ordinary Shares held prior to Placing | Placing Shares Acquired
| Ordinary Shares held following Placing | % | |
| Cedar Assets Group Limited | - | 172,800,000 | 172,800,000 | 18.43% |
| Roderick Mcillree | - | 75,000,000 | 75,000,000 | 8.00% |
| John Andrew Simpson | 15,000,000 | 22,503,030 | 37,503,030 | 4.00% |
| Rod Smith | - | 36,400,000 | 36,400,000 | 3.88% |
| Tom Kelly | 9,450,000 | 22,503,030 | 31,953,030 | 3.41% |
| Craig Ian Burton | 8,000,000 | 22,503,030 | 30,503,030 | 3.25% |
| Seapoint Investments | 22,920,418 | - | 22,920,418 | nln |
| SPGP | 15,775,000 | - | 15,775,000 | nln |
| Malbros Investments Pty Ltd | 10,000,000 | - | 10,000,000 | nln |
| Resource Finance Services Ltd | 9,945,429 | - | 9,945,429 | nln |
| Christopher Taylor | 8,400,000 | - | 8,400,000 | nln |
nln: no longer notifiable as below 3%
Contacts
| For further information on the Company visit www.alectoenergy.com or contact: | ||
| Damian Conboy | Alecto Energy plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7182 1748 |
| Greg Kuenzel | Alecto Energy plc | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7182 1748 |
| Edward Hutton James Reeve | Allenby Capital Limited | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7510 8600 |