5 Sep 2012 13:41
For immediate release
Creon Resources Plc
("Creon" or "the Company")
Proposed Board Appointment
The Company is pleased to announce that it proposes to appoint Glen Lian Seng Lau ("Glen Lau") to the board of the Company as an executive director, subject to routine due diligence to be carried out by the Company's nominated adviser, Daniel Stewart & Company. Confirmation of Mr Lau's appointment will be announced at the earliest opportunity.
Mr Lau, aged 47, graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1989 with a BSC in Mathematics and Economics and achieved a MSC in Financial Engineering from the same university in 2001. Glen has over 23 years' experience working in the financial sector, with a particular expertise in investment banking and fund management.
Mr Lau is a director of Fulton Capital Management Limited ("Fulton Capital"), and was instrumental in helping to secure the Company's joint investment agreement with Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Pte Ltd, as announced to the market on 17 July 2012. Fulton Capital holds 25,000,000 warrants to subscribe for ordinary shares of 0.1 pence ("Ordinary Shares") in the Company at 0.5p per Ordinary Share, exercisable at any time up to 31 August 2017. Mr Lau is a also a director of Global Tech Investments 1 Limited which owns 172,500,000 Ordinary Shares in the Company, representing 6.29% of the issued Ordinary Share capital of the Company.
Chief Executive Officer of Creon, Jeswant Natarajan said, "We are delighted that Glen has agreed to join the board of the Company. He has extensive investment banking, fund management and deal sourcing and execution expertise and we look forward to working with Glen in assisting the Company with its continued growth and the further development and implementation of its long term strategies."
- Ends -
For further information please contact:
Creon Resources plc | |
Jeswant Natarajan - Chief Executive Officer | Tel: +44 (0) 20 7583 8304 +60 12 212 1332 |
Daniel Stewart & Company plc | |
Nominated Adviser & Broker | |
Paul Shackleton/Tessa Smith | Tel: + 44 (0) 20 7776 6550 |
GTH Communications Limited | |
Toby Hall/Suzanne Johnson-Walsh | Tel: + 44 (0) 20 3103 3900 |
About Creon Resources plc
The Company's Investment Policy is to invest principally but not exclusively in the resources and/or resources infrastructure sectors, with no specific national or regional focus. The Company may be either an active investor and acquire control of a single company or it may acquire non-controlling shareholdings.
Investments made by the Company may be either quoted or unquoted; made by direct acquisition or through farm-ins; may be in companies, partnerships, joint ventures; or direct interests in resources projects. Target investments will generally be involved in projects in the exploration and/or development stage. The Company's equity interest in investments may range from a minority position to 100 per cent. ownership.
On 17 July 2012, the Company entered into a joint venture with multi-billion dollar, Singapore listed, China based shipbuilding giant, Yangzijiang Shipbuilding (Holdings) Pte Ltd ("YZJ Holdings"), in the offshore oil and gas infrastructure sector ("JV Agreement"). This joint venture with YZJ is Creon's first significant investment under its Investment Policy and represents a major endorsement of Creon's management and access to expertise and partners in the oil and gas infrastructure sector.
Under the terms of the JV Agreement, Creon and YZJ Holdings will each invest into the joint venture company, YZJ Offshore Engineering Pte Ltd ("YZJ Offshore"), a Singapore registered company recently set up by YZJ Holdings to be a leading player in the design and construction of marine offshore oil and gas vessels (jack-up and semi-submersible rigs). Creon will invest US$15.33 million, with YZJ Holdings and its associates investing a further US$14.67 million, into YZJ Offshore.
YZJ Offshore will provide marketing, procurement, front end engineering and design, and management consultancy services for the construction, fabrication and repair of oil and gas marine vessels and platforms.
The Directors believe that the offshore marine rig vessel market is an attractive one, underpinned by sustained high global demand and a high oil price environment. Global rig utilisation rates and day rates have been rising since early 2011, particularly for jack-up rigs. Furthermore, the Directors believe demand for newly designed rigs will be underpinned by the phasing out of the existing stock of rigs. The Directors understand that by the end of 2012, the average age of jack-up rigs will be 24 years, with almost half of the fleet older than 30 years. Based on the current stock and new rig builds in the pipeline, there could be an under supply by almost 200 jack-up rigs by 2020.The Directors believe that this potential demand represents an excellent opportunity for the joint venture.
The majority of the funds invested into YZJ Offshore to date have gone towards securing land rights to approximately 1.6 million square metres of prime shorefront land in Taicang, Jiangsu Province on China's east coast, some 50 miles north of Shanghai. The total cost of the land will be approximately US$65 million. Creon has the option, but not the obligation, to provide additional funding to YZJ Offshore.