1st Jul 2005 12:16
Afren PLC01 July 2005 AFREN PLC Successful £7.5 million Capital Raising Afren PLC ("Afren" or "the Company"), the Africa-focused independent oil and gascompany, today announces the successful placing of 21,400,000 shares at 35p withinstitutional investors, raising £7.5 million (before expenses) in workingcapital. An application has been made to AIM for the new ordinary shares to beadmitted and it is expected that trading will commence on 4 July 2005. The proceeds of Afren's initial placing in March 2005 were to fund itscommitments under its 4.41% interest in Block 1 (see below) and to provide theCompany with general working capital. The funds raised in this placing will beused by Afren to secure a number of early production opportunities in Nigeria,and to expand the Company's West African exploration portfolio. The placingfollows the formation of Afren Energy Resources Ltd ("AER"), a wholly ownedsubsidiary giving the Company a presence on the ground in Nigeria to allow Afrento take full advantage of oil and gas opportunities in the country. AER iscurrently pursuing a number of opportunities in Nigeria. AER's ManagingDirector is Egbert Imomoh, who is also an Executive Director of Afren, and isbased in Lagos. Mr. Imomoh will be supported by Mr. Constantine L. Ogunbiyi,Head of Corporate Services of Afren plc, who has been appointed as a Director ofAER. The Company also holds an indirect 4.41% stake in Block 1 of the Nigeria -Sao Tome and Principe Joint Development Zone, through Dangote Energy EquityResources. Brian O'Cathain, Chief Executive, commented: "The response to the placing from institutional investors has been good and theworking capital raised will be used to continue the progress we are making inexpanding our West African portfolio." 1 July 2005 Enquiries: AfrenBrian O'Cathain Chief Executive +44 20 7969 2760Osman Shahenshah Chief Financial Officer +44 20 7969 2760 Pelham Public RelationsJames Henderson [email protected] +44 020 7743 6673Charles Vivian [email protected] +44 020 7743 6672 Afren is an independent oil and gas exploration, development and productioncompany, established in 2004 to build an attractive, diversified and balancedportfolio of African assets, with an initial focus on the Gulf of Guinea region.Afren's corporate objective is "Capital appreciation for shareholders throughpreferential access to oil and gas production and exploration acreageacquisition, production growth, deal flow and exploration drilling in Africa" This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
AFR.L