Change of Control Proposal Received
Sydney, April 18, 2013 AEST (ABN Newswire) - On the 27 March 2013 Buccaneer Energy Limited (
ASX:BCC) advised it had appointed Canaccord Genuity (Australia) Limited ("Canaccord") as its financial advisor to advise the Company on seeking strategic alternatives in respect to the Company's assets with a view of maximising shareholder value.
In the Rights Issue Information Booklet released to the ASX on 12 April 2013 the Company advised that one of the outcomes of the above process is that it may receive a change of control proposal.
The Company now advises that it has received a conditional and non-binding Letter of Intent ("LOI") to acquire 100% of the Company's ordinary shares. The Company can confirm that the LOI is from a credible party which is known to the Company and with whom the Company has previously discussed the possibility of a business combination. The indicative pricing within the LOI is at a premium to the rights issue price of $0.04 per share.
The directors of the Company have reviewed the LOI in conjunction with both Canaccord and its lawyers, HopgoodGanim. At this stage the board has determined that the LOI is not compelling enough to support or proceed with as it does not properly reflect the value of the Company, its assets and prospects, nor is it presently considered to be in the best interest of the Company or its shareholders. However, the Company is open to continued dialogue with the prospective bidder to ascertain if an acceptable outcome may be achieved for the Company and its shareholders, although there is no certainty that an improved or binding proposal or offer from this third party will be forthcoming.
Buccaneer has only recently commenced the strategic review process with Canaccord and the interest expressed by other third parties to date has been positive, as such, it is the board's intention to continue to review the Company's strategic alternatives via the established process. The strategic review may or may not result in a proposal being made on terms of which may be put to shareholders with the recommendation of the Board.
The Company will give additional updates on the received LOI in accordance with its obligations under the Listing Rules and Corporations Act.
Background
While Buccaneer has undertaken a significant amount of work and made considerable progress on its Alaskan assets since entering the Cook Inlet in 2010, the Company's current market capitalisation fails to recognise the underlying inherent value contained in these assets.
The three projects within the Company's portfolio that have Proven third party certified Reserves are as follows, (Refer to link below):
http://media.abnnewswire.net/media/en/docs/ASX-BCC-731173.pdf
Buccaneer made its first lease acquisition in the Cook Inlet, Alaska in April 2010 and since that time has gone through a process of adding to the initial lease position as well as de-risking the projects to a drill ready stage.
An overview of the highlights of what has been achieved since that time is as follows:
- Unitised the Southern Cross Unit and North West Cook Inlet Unit;
- Completed permitting for two wells at each of the Southern Cross Unit, North West Cook Inlet Unit and Cosmopolitan project;
- Leased 9,308 acres at the Kenai Loop Project from three separate lease owners;
- Permitted four wells and drilled three wells at Kenai Loop, two of which were successful;
- Permitted and built a pipeline at the Kenai Loop Project;
- Achieved production of 10.0 MMCFD at the Kenai Loop project with corresponding significant cash flow;
- Permitted and acquired a 25 m2 3D seismic date over Kenai Loop;
- Acquired the Cosmopolitan project;
- Reprocessed 3D seismic data over the Southern Cross Unit and Cosmopolitan projects;
- Reprocessed 2D seismic data over the North West Cook Inlet Unit and gained access to a 3D seismic data set;
- Reprocessed 230 miles of 2D seismic at West Eagle project;
- Successfully unitised the West Eagle Unit;
- Acquired the West Nicolai project at lease sale;
- Acquired and refitted the Endeavour jack-up rig with exclusive access for 5 years;
- Secured exclusive access to the Glacier onshore rig until May 2015, with an option to purchase;
- Third party certification of Proven Reserves of 19.4 MMBOE, Proven and Probable Reserves of 32.9 MMBOE and P50 Resource of 60.4 MMBOE; and
- Secured $100 million in new debt facilities to support the ongoing development of the Company's Kenai Loop project.
Contact
Buccaneer Energy Limited
T: +61-2-9233-2520
F: +61-2-9233-2530
WWW: www.buccenergy.com
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