Lfeaccetfusd Regulatory News (FEP)

6 Apr 2006 07:01

Forum Energy Plc06 April 2006 6 April 2006 Forum Energy Plc Completion of Acquisition and Issue of Equity Forum Energy Plc ('Forum' or 'the Company'), the AIM quoted oil, gas and coalcompany with assets in the Philippines, is pleased to announce that all theconditions relating to its acquisition of Basic Petroleum and Minerals Inc('BPMI'), the wholly-owned subsidiary of Basic Consolidated, Inc. ('BCI'), havebeen met. On 30 March 2006 the Department of Energy of the Government of the Philippinesapproved the assignment of the participating interests of BCI to its subsidiaryBPMI, this being the final condition relating to Forum's acquisition of BPMI. As announced on 29 March 2006, the shareholders of BCI have previously approvedthe acquisition by Forum of BPMI. The acquisition of the entire issued share capital of BPMI, in exchange for amixture of cash and ordinary shares in Forum, can now be completed. This acquisition will provide Forum with initial net production of approximately40 barrels of oil per day, and varying interests in nine oil fields offeringadditional production and reserve potential. The terms of the agreement are set out in the announcement made by Forum on 15February 2006 and can be summarised as follows: • Forum will pay US$5 million to BCI over the next 12 months, made up of US$2.2 million in cash payments and the issue of 1,333,759 new ordinary shares of 10p in Forum (equating to US$2.8 million); • Further cash payments to BCI of up to US$2 million will be made if the acquired interests produce more than 5.4 million barrels of oil; and • BCI, the current owner of BPMI, may also ultimately receive up to US$10 million of cost recovery amounts that are associated with the interests, but not until after Forum has recovered 100% of its invested capital. As part of the consideration for the acquisition, the Company is required toissue a total of 1,333,759 new ordinary shares of 10p in the Company to BCI.These shares are subject to lock-in arrangements as follows: • 1,047,953 new ordinary shares of Forum issued to BCI will be subject to a 12 month holding period from 3 April 2006; • 285,806 new ordinary shares of Forum issued to BCI will be subject to an 18 month holding period from 3 April 2006, subject to the conditions of certain service contracts. The new ordinary shares were allotted on 3 April 2006 and application has beenmade for the admission of the new ordinary shares to trading on AIM. Dealingsare expected to commence in the new ordinary shares on 10 April 2006. Following the admission of the new ordinary shares to AIM on 10 April 2006, BCIwill be interested in a total of 1,333,759 ordinary shares of 10p each in theCompany, representing 4.67% of the issued share capital of the Company. For further information please contact: David Robinson, Chief Executive, Forum Energy Plc: +44 (0) 1932 445 344 Adam Westcott, Noble & Company Limited: +44 (0) 131 225 9677 Ian Foster, First City Financial Public Relations: +44 (0) 20 7436 7486 +44 (0) 7739 185 050 Or visit the Company's website: www.forumenergyplc.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange