Interoil successfully completes acquisition of an additional participation in Santa Cruz concessions
Interoil Exploration and Production has successfully completed the acquisition of (i) a 42.69 % participating interest in and to five exploitation concessions located in the Province of Santa Cruz, Argentina, namely CA-1 'Campo Bremen', CA-4 'Moy Aike', CA-6 'Chorrillos', CA-10 'Palermo Aike' and CA-9 'Océano' (the 'Exploitation Concessions’), and the related joint venture, and (ii) a 62.39% interest in and to the transport concession on the Océano area , and the purchased interest and assets. The Acquired Interest and Assets has been assigned to and shall be held by the Argentine subsidiary of the Company, Interoil Argentina S.A.('IASA').
The Acquired Interests and Assets in the Exploitation Concessions add up to the 8.34% that the Company already holds through IASA in the Exploitation Concessions and the related joint venture where IASA serves as operator. As a result of the Acquisition, IASA shall own an aggregate of 51.03% in the Exploitation Concessions and shall continue to serve as operator.
The Acquisition has been made pursuant to the terms and conditions of a Purchase and Sale Agreement ('PSA') entered into by and among Interoil and the Argentine company Selva María Oil and Echo Energy and its subsidiaries Eco Energy CDL OP Ltd. and Eco Energy TA OP Ltd. The Acquisition represents the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the PSA, pursuant to the announcements made by the Company on May 9th, and May 26th, 2023.
In consideration for the Acquisition of the Acquired Interest and Assets the Company has paid a fixed cash consideration equal to GBP 825,000.
In addition, as part of the closing of the transaction, the Board of Directors of the Company has resolved to issue 4,824,591 shares to Echo at a subscription price of NOK 1.15 per share as payment in kind of GBP 400,000 of the purchase price of the Acquisition. Once the share capital increase related to the issuance of these shares has been registered with the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises, the new share capital of Interoil Exploration and Production ASA will be NOK 100,672,137, divided into 201,304,274 shares, each with a par value of NOK 0.50.
Additionally, the Company has subscribed Echo shares for an aggregate amount GBP 75,000, at a value of 0.065GBP per Echo share.
For a term of 6 month from Closing, Echo will also retain an option to repurchase a 5% interest in the joint venture and related assets for a consideration of £ 100,000.
The Acquisition is lined with an announced strategy of growth through purchases of interests in producing assets, in addition to organic development. In practice, the Acquisition consolidates a majority position in the Santa Cruz concessions both by increasing the interests in the Exploitation Concessions, as well as by giving a new and majority participation in the Transport Concession. The transaction also entails a growth in the equity production share of the Company in the exploitation activities which, based on the monthly production report of May 2023, represents an increase in the share of flowing production from the Santa Cruz Sur assets that adds to the previous equity share around 570 boepd (67 bopd of oil plus 503 boepd of gas) material equity production.
Source: Interoil
