30th Dec 2025 10:00
(Alliance News) - Savannah Energy PLC on Tuesday said it intends to enter a new relationship agreement that will see its largest shareholder, Nipco PLC, take a bigger stake, while its chief executive will step in to buy the shares remaining in the company's off-market buyback agreement, which will be cancelled.
London-based Savannah is focused on hydrocarbon and renewable energy projects in Africa. Its existing projects are in oil and gas in Nigeria and in wind, solar and hydroelectric projects in Niger and Cameroon. In September, Savannah also agreed to buy interests in hydropower projects in Uganda and Malawi and one spanning Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda.
Savannah on Tuesday said Nipco has agreed to buy 118.1 million of the 143.6 million Savannah shares that were subject to the company's off-market buyback, which was approved by shareholders in November. This will increase its holding to 25%. Nipco also has agreed to buy a further 1.5% stake from other shareholders, taking its total interest to 26.5%.
The new relationship agreement to be put in place as part of the share purchases includes an undertaking by Nipco to not pursue a hostile takeover of the company and to vote in line with board recommendations. It will not have any board representatives.
Savannah said Chief Executive Officer Andrew Knott has offered to buy the remaining 25.5 million shares subject to the buyback agreement. This will raise his stake to 13.8%.
Savannah shares were down 0.5% to 6.82 pence in London early Tuesday. They are down 32% over the past year. The company has a GBP144.5 million market capitalisation.
Cancelling the buyback will save the company GBP10.1 million in cash. This may be used for on-market share buybacks, Savannah said.
Turning to operations, Savannah said average gross daily production in the 11 months to the end of November was 19,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 22,800 a year before. It said 84% of this was gas, down from 88%.
Revenue in the 11 months was USD218.1 million, down from USD226.7 million a year before. Savannah ended November with USD59.8 million in cash, up from USD32.6 million on December 31 last year. Net debt was USD652.5 million, up from USD636.9 million.
By Tom Waite, Alliance News editor
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