Echo Energy Plc (LON:ECHO) - the Independent Resources (IRG) reboot led by Sound Energy PLC (LON:SOU) boss James Parsons - has got a further funding boost as it gears up for its first proposed acquisition in South and Central America.
In a statement today, the AIM-listed firm said that, following the institutional loan with Greenberry PLC announced on May 15, the lender has purchased the further principal of €5mln, in addition to the initial €15mln subscription, bringing the total loan note facility to the €20mln expected.
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Greenberry is one of the company's two cornerstone investors, having backed the Echo Energy launch, supporting the group with an equity funding that gave it a 27.15% stake in the company.
Bahamas-based Spartan Fund is the firm’s other cornerstone investor having made a £10mln equity investment in Echo.
Echo said the Greenberry loan facility completion leaves it with around £26mln in cash, once the various equity and debt transactions have completed
The corporate relaunch of Echo, which saw the appointment of Sound Energy executives and the renaming from Independent Resources, was completed last month.
Echo said on April 18 that will pursue opportunities in South and Central America, which on the face of it was a new strategy somewhat at odds with the initial presumption many investors made after the Sound executives were parachuted into IRG.
Like Sound, IRG had been focused on North Africa and the Mediterranean - with assets in Tunisia, Egypt and Italy.
READ: Echo Energy: ‘New Sound’ to raise £23mln ahead of first acquisition
But in its statement in April the company said it “does not see significant value” in the Egypt and Italy portfolio.
It added that it was making preparations to ‘exit’ the projects and it is in talks with a third party over a potential sale of the Egypt assets. The Tunisia project, meanwhile, are currently “under review”, the company added.