14th May 2015 08:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Churchill Mining PLC Thursday said it has raised GBP850,000 through a subscription and placing of 8.5 million new shares at 10 pence each, as well as issuing a warrant for every two placing shares that are exercisable at 15 pence each, money it will use to progress its arbitration claim against the Republic of Indonesia.
The company said the placing shares represent about 6.4% of its enlarged share capital, and the warrants expire on June 30, 2018. Chairman David Quinlivan is subscribing for 1.1 million of the shares, while Non-Executive Director Fara Luwia, and Indonesian businesswoman, is subscribing for 1.15 million and Managing Director Nicholas Smith is subscribing for 300,000.
Cause First Ventures Ltd subscribed for 1.65 million shares, giving it a 13.22 pence stake in the company.
"We wish to thank those of our existing shareholders who participated in this placement for their continued support and welcome our new shareholders. The offer was significantly oversubscribed and the company was very pleased with the level of interest shown. With this successful capital raising now complete we can now focus squarely on the forthcoming ICSID arbitration hearing in Singapore in early August," Quinlivan said in a statement.
The company is locked in an arbitration battle with Indonesia's government at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, US, after Indonesia decided to revoke the mining licenses that made up the East Kutai coal project in East Kalimantan, Indonesia, in which Churchill and its wholly owned subsidiary, Planet Mining Pty Ltd, held a 75% interest.
The licenses were revoked after Churchill had taken the discovery through to feasibility in readiness for funding and the start of construction, and the company had appeals against the decision rejected by the Administrative High Court in Jakarta and the Indonesian Supreme Court.
Churchill then moved to file a claim of international arbitration against the Republic of Indonesia for breaches of Indonesia?s obligations under the Bilateral Investment Treaty between the UK and the Republic of Indonesia.
In August, Churchill and representatives from the Indonesian government met to inspect original documents related to the mining licenses to inspect their validity. However, on the same day Indonesian police raided the company's offices in Jakarta and seized a number of documents, computers and back-up drives as part of an investigation into alleged forgery of the documents by Churchill.
Churchill has categorically denied that any forgery has taken place, and said the raid "was strategically timed to harm and prejudice the company's case currently being heard by the tribunal," and filed applications to receive all the material back.
In September, the Indonesian government then made a formal application to dismiss Churchill's claims in the case on the basis of forgery, which Churchill again called it an attempt to "delay and derail" the proceedings.
In March, Churchill said there will be a hearing to look at the authenticity of the documents in August 2015.
However, it is also now in a regulatory spat after the London Stock Exchange said in March that Churchill had breached AIM listing rules, something that Churchill denies and said the alleged breaches took place "over four years ago". Still it has set aside USD140,000 in its books to cover any potential fine.
Churchill Mining shares were flat at 16.00 pence Thursday morning.
By Steve McGrath; [email protected]; @stevemcgrath1
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