AMER.L Regulatory News (AMER)

NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN INTO OR FROM ANY JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO WOULD CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF THE RELEVANT LAWS OR REGULATIONS OF THAT JURISDICTION

This announcement contains inside information as defined in EU Regulation No. 596/2014 and is in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of that Regulation.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

19 July 2019

Amerisur Resources Plc ("Amerisur" or the "Company")

Strategic review including formal sale process under the Takeover Code

Amerisur Resources Plc ("Amerisur" or the "Company"), the oil and gas producer and explorer focused on South America (LSE: AMER), announces that following the receipt of interest in the Company and its assets from other industry participants, and in light of the high level of recent activity in the Colombian E&P sector, it has decided to conduct a formal review of the various strategic options available to the Company to maximise value for shareholders.

These options include, but are not limited to, the potential sale of the Company through the commencement of a "formal sales process" as set out by The City Code on Takeovers and Mergers (the "Code") or the farm-out or sale of one or more of the Company's assets.

The Company confirms that, at the time of this announcement, it has received a non-binding proposal regarding a potential sale of the Company and various other indicative proposals regarding the sale of certain assets of the Company.

The Board has appointed BMO Capital Markets as its financial adviser with regards to the formal sales process and as independent financial adviser for the purposes of Rule 3 of the Code. Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited has been appointed as joint financial advisor to the Company.

Parties with a possible interest in making a proposal should contact BMO Capital Markets on the contact details set out below.

The Takeover Panel has granted a dispensation from the requirements of Rules 2.4(a), 2.4(b) and 2.6(a) of the Code such that any interested party participating in the formal sale process will not be required to be publicly identified as a result of this announcement (subject to note 3 to Rule 2.2 of the Code) and will not be subject to the 28 day deadline referred to in Rule 2.6(a) of the Code, for so long as it is participating in the formal sale process. Following this announcement, the Company is now considered to be in an "offer period" as defined in the Code, and the dealing disclosure requirements set out below will apply.

Any party wishing to participate in the formal sales process will be required to enter into a non-disclosure agreement with the Company on reasonable terms satisfactory to the Board and on the same terms, in all material respects, as other interested parties before being permitted to participate in the process.

Following execution of such an agreement, the Company intends to provide interested parties with information on the Company, following which, such parties will be invited to submit proposals to the Company.

The Board reserves the right to alter any aspect of the process as outlined above or to terminate it at any time and will make further announcements when appropriate. The Board reserves the right to reject any approach or terminate discussions with any interested party or participant at any time.

Shareholders are advised this is not a firm intention to make an offer under Rule 2.7 of the Code and there can be no certainty that any offers will be made as a result of the formal sales process, that any sale or other transaction will be concluded, nor as to the terms on which any offer or other transaction may be made.

Rule 2.9 information

In accordance with Rule 2.9 of the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers, the Company confirms that, as at the date of this announcement, it has 1,215,467,768 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in issue and admitted to trading on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange.

The International Securities Identification Number for Amerisur's ordinary shares is GB0032087826.

ENDS

Enquiries:

About Amerisur Resources

Amerisur Resources is an experienced Colombian Operator with an extensive, strategic acreage position in the underexplored Putumayo Basin with Occidental Petroleum ("Oxy") and a prospective Block CPO-5 in the Llanos Basin with ONGC. Amerisur is the 100% owner and operator of the OBA pipeline, a key piece of strategic, cross-border export infrastructure delivering oil from the Putumayo in Colombia into Ecuador. Amerisur produces from three fields, Platanillo, Mariposa and Indico that together generate cash flow to fund its work programme.

About BMO Capital Markets

BMO Capital Markets Limited ("BMO Capital Markets"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting exclusively for Amerisur and no one else in connection with the above and will not be responsible to anyone other than Amerisur for providing the protections offered to clients of BMO Capital Markets Limited nor for providing advice in relation to the subject matter of this announcement or any other matters referred to in this announcement.

About Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited

Stifel Nicolaus Europe Limited ("Stifel"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting exclusively for Amerisur and no one else in connection with the above and will not be responsible to anyone other than Amerisur for providing the protections offered to clients of Stifel nor for providing advice in relation to the subject matter of this announcement or any other matters referred to in this announcement.

About Arden Partners

Arden Partners plc ("Arden"), which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority, is acting exclusively for Amerisur and no one else in connection with the above and will not be responsible to anyone other than Amerisur for providing the protections offered to clients of Arden nor for providing advice in relation to the subject matter of this announcement or any other matters referred to in this announcement.

About Investec

Investec Bank plc ("Investec"), which is authorised by the Prudential Regulatory Authority and is regulated in the United Kingdom by the FCA and the Prudential Regulatory Authority, is acting exclusively for Amerisur and no one else in connection with the above and will not be responsible to anyone other than Amerisur for providing the protections offered to clients of Investec nor for providing advice in relation to the subject matter of this announcement or any other matters referred to in this announcement.

Disclosure requirements of the Takeover Code

Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Takeover Code, any person who is interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the offer period and, if later, following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th Business Day following the commencement of the offer period and, if appropriate, by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the 10th Business Day following the announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree company or of a securities exchange offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure.

Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Takeover Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in 1 per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 pm (London time) on the Business Day following the date of the relevant dealing.

If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3.

Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4).

Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the offer period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 (0)20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.

Publication on website and hard copies

A copy of this announcement and the documents required to be published by Rule 26 of the Takeover Code will be available, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, on Amerisur's website at http://www.amerisurresources.com by no later than 12 noon on the Business Day following the date of this announcement. For the avoidance of doubt, the content of the website is not incorporated into and does not form part of this announcement.