12 Jan 2010 11:00
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT AND THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN IT IS NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN OR INTO AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN, NEW ZEALAND, THE REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA OR THE UNITED STATES OR INTO ANY OTHER JURISDICTION WHERE TO DO SO MIGHT CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OR BREACH OF ANY APPLICABLE LAW. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT.
12 January 2010
Desire Petroleum plc
('Desire' or the 'Company')
Result of Open Offer
On 9 December 2009, the Board of Desire announced an Open Offer to raise gross proceeds of up to £20.3 million (approximately £19.9 million net of expenses) through the issue of up to 28,971,544 New Ordinary Shares by way of an Open Offer at an issue price of 70 pence per New Ordinary share.
The Open Offer closed at 11.00 a.m. on 11 January 2010. Under the Open Offer, valid applications have been received from Qualifying Shareholders in respect of 48,185,979 Open Offer Shares in aggregate, representing approximately 166.3 per cent. of the Open Offer Shares offered pursuant to the Open Offer.
Valid applications were received from Qualifying Shareholders for a total Basic Entitlement of 23,169,347 Open Offer Shares and all valid applications for Basic Entitlements will be satisfied in full.
Accordingly, 5,802,197 Excess Shares were available for subscription under the Excess Application Facility. Valid applications under the Excess Application Facility have been received in respect of 25,016,632 Excess Shares, representing approximately 431.2 per cent. of the Excess Shares available for subscription.
Applications under the Excess Application Facility have therefore been scaled back by 76.8 per cent., with fractions of Excess Shares being disregarded. Thus, by way of example, a Qualifying Shareholder who has validly applied for 1,000 Excess Shares will be allocated 232 Excess Shares.
Application has been made for the admission of 28,971,544 New Ordinary Shares to AIM. It is expected that admission and commencement of dealings in the New Ordinary Shares will become effective at 8.00 a.m. on 13 January 2010.
The total issued share capital of Desire following Admission will be 318,686,989 Ordinary Shares of 1 pence each.
Terms defined in the Prospectus published on 9 December 2009 have the same meanings in this announcement.
Yesterday, Desire presented to City analysts and the presentation will be placed on the Desire website shortly.
For further information contact:
| Desire Petroleum Plc | 0207 436 0423 |
| Stephen Phipps, Chairman | |
| Ian Duncan, Chief Executive Officer | |
| Seymour Pierce Limited | 0207 107 8000 |
| Corporate Finance | |
| Jonathan Wright | |
| Christopher Wren | |
| Corporate Broking | |
| Richard Redmayne | |
| Jeremy Stephenson | |
| Buchanan Communications | 0207 466 5000 |
| Ben Willey Ben Romney |
Seymour Pierce Limited, which is authorised and regulated in the United Kingdom by the Financial Services Authority, is acting as Nominated Adviser and Broker exclusively to the Company and for no one else in connection with the Open Offer and Admission and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company for providing the protections afforded to its clients or for providing advice in relation to the Open Offer and Admission or any other matters referred to in this announcement.
This announcement has been issued by, and is the sole responsibility of, Desire Petroleum plc. Apart from the responsibilities and liabilities, if any, which may be imposed by the FSMA, neither Seymour Pierce Limited nor any of its affiliates, parent undertakings, subsidiary undertakings or subsidiaries of its parent undertakings or any of their respective directors, officers, employees or advisers or any other person accepts any responsibility whatsoever and makes no representation or warranty, express or implied, for or in respect of the contents of this announcement or as to the accuracy or completeness or fairness of the information or opinions contained in this announcement and, without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing, no responsibility or liability is accepted by any of them for any such information or opinions or for any errors or omissions.
Important notice:
This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or invitation to sell or issue, or any solicitation of any offer to acquire any New Ordinary Shares, nor shall it (or any part of it), or the fact of its distribution, form the basis of, or be relied on in connection with or act as any inducement to enter into, any contract or commitment whatsoever with respect to the Open Offer or otherwise.
The distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be restricted by law and such distribution could result in violation of the laws of such jurisdictions. In particular, this announcement is not for distribution in Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, The Republic of South Africa and the United States.
The information in this announcement may not be forwarded or distributed to any other person and may not be reproduced in any manner whatsoever. Any forwarding, distribution, reproduction or disclosure of this information in whole or in part is unauthorised. Failure to comply with this directive may result in a violation of the US Securities Act or the applicable laws of other jurisdictions.