Seplat Energy Regulatory News (SEPL)

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

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

13 February 2015

Afren plc

Termination of discussions with SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company plc

On 22 December 2014, Afren plc ("Afren" or the "Company") announced that it had received a highly preliminary approach from SEPLAT Petroleum Development Company plc ("Seplat") regarding a possible combination with Afren.

In accordance with Rule 2.6(a) of the UK Takeover Code (the "Code"), and further to Afren's announcement on 30 January 2015, Seplat was required, by not later than 5.00 p.m. on 13 February 2015 (the "Deadline"), to either announce a firm intention to make an offer for Afren under Rule 2.7 of the Code or announce that it does not intend to make an offer for Afren, in which case the announcement will be treated as a statement to which Rule 2.8 of the Code applies. Seplat has requested an extension to the Deadline.

The Board has not received any proposal from Seplat that it believes is capable of being implemented on terms satisfactory to all relevant stakeholders in the Company, including the indicated value being significantly below the aggregate value of the debt of the Company.

Accordingly, the Board has concluded that continuing discussions with Seplat is not in the best interests of the Company's stakeholders and will not agree to Seplat's request for an extension of the Deadline. This announcement is made without Seplat's consent.

The Company is continuing discussions with the advisers to the ad hoc committee of its largest bond holders regarding the immediate liquidity and funding needs of the business. The Company is also having discussions with its existing stakeholders and new third party investors regarding recapitalising the Company.

Further announcements will be made in due course.

The contents of this announcement will be available at www.afren.com. The content of the aforementioned website is not incorporated into and does not form part of this announcement.

Enquiries:

Notes to Editors

Afren is an independent upstream oil and gas exploration and production company listed on the main market of the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of the Financial Times Stock Exchange 250 Index. Afren has a portfolio of assets spanning the full cycle E&P value chain. Afren is currently producing from its assets in Nigeria and the Kurdistan region of Iraq and holds further exploration interests in Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, the Kurdistan region of Iraq, Congo Brazzaville, Kenya, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Seychelles, Tanzania and South Africa. For more information please refer to www.afren.com.

Notices

This announcement is not intended to, and does not, constitute or form part of any offer, invitation or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities whether pursuant to this announcement or otherwise.

The distribution of this announcement in jurisdictions outside the United Kingdom may be restricted by law and therefore persons into whose possession this announcement comes should inform themselves about, and observe, such restrictions. Any failure to comply with the restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities law of any such jurisdiction.

Disclaimer and cautionary note on forward looking statements and notes on certain other matters

Certain statements in this announcement are not historical facts and are or are deemed to be "forward-looking". The Company's prospects, plans, financial position and business strategy, and statements pertaining to the capital resources, future expenditure for development projects and results of operations, may constitute forward-looking statements. In addition, forward-looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology including, but not limited to; "may", "expect", "intend", "estimate", "anticipate", "plan", "foresee", "will", "could", "may", "might", "believe" or "continue" or the negatives of these terms or variations of them or similar terminology. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that these expectations will prove to have been correct. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks, uncertainties and other facts that may cause actual results to be materially different from those expressed or implied in these forward-looking statements because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future and may be beyond Afren's ability to control or predict. Forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performances.

Factors, risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to be materially different from those projected include, but are not limited to, the following: risks relating to changes in political, economic and social conditions in the countries in which Afren operates; future prices and demand for the Company's products; global oil production; trends in the oil & gas industry and domestic and international oil & gas market conditions; risks in oil & gas operations; future expansion plans and capital expenditures; the Company's relationship with, and conditions affecting, the Company's partners and regulators; competition; weather conditions or catastrophic damage; risks relating to law, regulations and taxation in the countries in which Afren operates, including laws, regulations, decrees and decisions governing the oil & gas industry, the environment and currency and exchange controls and their official interpretation by governmental and other regulatory bodies and by the courts; and risks relating to global economic conditions and the global economic environment. Additional risk factors are as described in the Company's annual report.

Forward-looking statements are made only as of the date of this announcement. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release, publicly or otherwise, any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained in this announcement to reflect any change in its expectations or any change in events, conditions, assumptions or circumstances on which any such statement is based unless so required by applicable law.