- £20 million Financing Facility drawn down
- £4.5 million Senior Debt facility repaid
- £6m Bridge facility repaid
- Funds secured for investment in Saltfleetby Field to expand production
- Planned restoration of oil production from Brockham Field
- Strengthening of Balance Sheet through the issue of equity in lieu of fees, interest and royalties
- Angus will pursue a growth strategy to acquire additional production
On 20 December 2023, Angus Energy announced that terms had been agreed with a subsidiary of Trafigura Group for a refinancing of its existing debt. The Company is pleased to announce that it has today signed definitive loan documentation which allows it to draw down in full on the £20 million loan facility with Trafigura. The existing senior debt of £4.56 million will be transferred to Trafigura and the proceeds of the Facility will be applied to repay the bridge facility of £6 million, and £1.75 million of Forum Energy's deferred consideration from the sale of Saltfleetby Energy Limited's 49% interest in the Saltfleetby Field to Angus in 2022. The balance of funds from the Facility will be used to pay legacy creditors and invest in wells and equipment to increase gas production from Saltfleetby and restart oil production from the Brockham Field in Southern England.
The key elements of the Facility are as follows:
- A £20m debt facility signed with Trafigura to refinance all existing debt and fund additional capex projects.
- Five-year amortising term with one year grace period for capital repayment and a cash sweep for accelerated repayment.
- Interest margin over 3-month term SONIA of 8% compared to 12% on the existing senior debt and 15% on the bridge facility, rising to 20% if this is not repaid. As a result, projected servicing costs for the new Facility over the coming 12 months will be no higher than if Angus stayed under the existing debt structure, despite the near doubling of the size of the loan.
- Existing senior debt of £4.56 million transferred to Trafigura on the new terms. All existing bridge debt and interest to be repaid amounting to £6.7 million in total. Fees on the £6 million bridge facility will be settled in shares. In addition, £1.75 million of the deferred consideration to Forum Energy for the acquisition of their 49% interest in the Saltfleetby Field in 2022 will be paid out, with the remaining balance of £2.88 million owing to Forum payable in instalments in cash or shares (at Forum's option) by June 2025.
- After repayment of existing debt and the expenses associated with the refinancing, the Company expects the remaining proceeds of the drawdown to be approximately £5.9 million, which will be utilised to stabilise the Company's creditor position and provide the short and medium-term capex needs to advance key programmes at Saltfleetby and Brockham Fields, including the preparations for the drilling of a new well or side track at Saltfleetby in 2025.
- Trafigura will act as offtaker of the sales gas produced at the Saltfleetby Field for a 5-year period on terms in line with Angus's existing offtake agreements.
- The existing hedge contract to be replaced with a gas offtake, with embedded price protection, at an average price, to be agreed, for the period to July 2025. For the duration of the loan, Angus will hedge a percentage of its production on a rolling basis.
- With the refinancing in place and the strengthened balance sheet, Angus is entering its growth phase to acquire additional production and develop storage opportunities.
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Source: Angus Energy
