14 Jun 2010 13:00
AVOCET MINING PLC
Successful completion of Norwegian Retail Offer
Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or the "Company") announces that the retail offer of ordinary shares in the Company ("New Shares") to investors resident in Norway ("Retail Offer"), as announced on 3 June 2010, was successfully completed and the subscription period closed on 10 June 2010.
A total of 1,164,705 New Shares were subscribed for in the Retail Offer and all subscribers will receive full allocation in accordance with their subscriptions. The subscription price was set at NOK 10.86 per share, based on a 10 per cent discount to the Volume Weighed Average Price of the ordinary shares of the Company ("Ordinary Shares") at the close of trading on AIM on 10 June 2010 of 126.6083 pence, and the official European Central Bank exchange rate of 9.5310 NOK/GBP.
Subsequent to the Retail Offer the number of Ordinary Shares in the Company will be 196,491,602.
A total of 595 new shareholders will be registered in the Norwegian electronic share registrar ("VPS") as a result of the Retail Offer, and these, together with the shareholders that have elected to transfer their holdings from Computershare, CREST and various custodian accounts, will ensure that the Company fulfils the Oslo Børs listing requirement to have at least 500 shareholders holding VPS registered shares with a minimum value of NOK 10,000 each. Avocet will therefore meet the second of the conditions set by the Oslo Børs for its approval of the listing of the Company on the main board of Oslo Stock Exchange. The first condition, being the approval of the Oslo listing prospectus by Finanstilsynet (the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway or "FSA"), was satisfied on 1 June 2010.
All subscribers that have been allotted New Shares in the Retail Offer will receive a letter confirming the number of New Shares allotted to them and the corresponding amount to be paid. These letters are expected to be mailed during the course of today.
Payment for the New Shares will occur on today in the manner set out in the Oslo listing prospectus.
The admission to trading on AIM and the listing of the New Shares on the main board of Oslo Børs are expected to occur on or about 16 June 2010.
The managers for the Retail Offer have been Arctic Securities ASA and First Securities AS while Netfonds Bank ASA has acted as Sales Agent.
| For further information please contact:
| |||||
| Avocet Mining PLC | Buchanan Communications | Ambrian Partners Limited | J.P. Morgan Cazenove | Arctic Securities | First Securities |
| Financial PR Consultants | NOMAD and Joint Broker | Lead Broker | Financial Adviser | Financial Adviser | |
| Brett Richards, Interim CEO Mike Norris, FD Hans-Arne L'orange, EVP Business Development & Investor Relations | Bobby Morse Katharine Sutton | Richard Brown Richard Greenfield | Michael Wentworth-Stanley Anish Patel | Arne Wenger Kim Galtung Døsvig | Stein Hansen Eirik Lilledahl |
| +44 20 7766 7676 | +44 20 7466 5000 +44 7802 875227 | +44 20 7634 4700 | +44 20 7588 2828 | +47 21013100 | +47 2323 8000 |
| www.avocet.co.uk | www.buchanan.uk.com | www.ambrian.com | www.jpmcazenove.com | www.arcticsec.no | www.first.no |
Notes to Shareholders
Current shareholders should be aware that the OSE is a regulated market for UK tax purposes, and Avocet shares will therefore no longer be considered as "unquoted" within the UK tax regime from the date of listing. One likely consequence is that Avocet shares will no longer qualify for UK Inheritance Tax Business Property Relief. However, it is possible that Avocet shares will qualify for inclusion in certain UK tax-efficient savings structures, such as ISAs from the date of listing.
As a "host" exchange, the OSE will require Avocet to comply with its continuing Disclosure regime (which is largely equivalent to that on AIM). The regulation of a take-over situation will be "split" between Norway and the UK. Issues relating to the securities law aspects of the offer (including offer price, offer period, offer procedure, information on the bidder's decision to make a bid, the content of the offer document, the publication of the bid) will be subject to Norwegian regulation, but issues relating to the company law aspects of the offer (including information to be provided to employees and thresholds that trigger the offer) will be subject to UK regulation.
Please note that neither Avocet nor its advisors are able to offer tax, legal, accounting or other professional advice. Shareholders unsure of their position in respect of tax or other financial aspects should consult their own professional advisers.
Notes to Editors
Avocet Mining PLC ("Avocet" or "the Company") is a gold mining company listed on the AIM of the London Stock Exchange (Ticker: AVM). On 27 April 2010 the Company announced that it had submitted an application for listing on the Oslo Stock Exchange and now expects to list on or about 16 June 2010. The Company's principal activities are gold mining and exploration in Burkina Faso (as 90 per cent owner of the Inata gold mine), Malaysia (as 100 per cent owner of the Penjom gold mine, the country's largest gold producer) and Indonesia (as 80 per cent owner of the North Lanut gold mine and Bakan project in North Sulawesi).
The Company recently announced that it had initiated exploration within the Inata Mining License area and in the surrounding Belahouro district with the objective of significantly increasing Inata's resource and reserve base as well as investigating the highly prospective Souma Trend. The Company has a number of other advanced exploration projects in West Africa and South East Asia.
Background to operations
Inata has a resource of 1.7 million ounces and reserves of 932,000 ounces. Inata poured first gold in December 2009 and is currently ramping up to full production rates in excess of 10,000 ounces per month. Other assets in West Africa include exploration licences in Burkina Faso, Guinea and Mali (the most advanced being the Tri-K gold exploration project in Guinea with a resource of 666,500 ounces).
Penjom is Malaysia's largest gold mine and was developed by Avocet after applying modern technology to grass roots exploration in an area of historic alluvial mining. The mine is located in Pahang State, approximately 120 km north of the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur.
North Lanut in North Sulawesi, Indonesia, was developed by Avocet from the exploration stage and has produced over 300,000 ounces since it was commissioned in 2004. North Lanut is located within a Contract of Work which includes exploration and mining rights over approximately 50,000 hectares in an area highly prospective for gold. Avocet holds an 80 per cent interest and an Indonesian company, PT Lebong Tandai, owns the remaining 20 per cent.