United Oil & Gas PLC (LON:UOG) said Rockhopper Exploration PLC (LON:RKH) has sold its entire 18.3% stake in UOG to a small number of institutional investors and one private investor in a placing.
Some 114.5mln shares in United were sold at a price of 2.66p apiece, with the shares having been a consideration for United's acquisition of Rockhopper’s Egyptian asset portfolio in February and subject to lock-up and orderly market disposal agreements.
As Rockhopper no longer owns any shares in the company’s, its representative on United’s board, Stewart MacDonald, has now stepped down.
United said the acquisition, which includes a 22% non-operating interest in the Abu Sennan concession onshore Egypt, has been “transformational”, delivering proved and probable reserves of 2.97mln barrels of oil equivalent.
The first drilling campaign at Abu Sennan resulted in the discovery of 50 metres of net oil pay in the ASH-2 well and a further discovery of over 120 metres of net oil pay in the ES-5 well, with both wells testing at high oil rates after drilling and are now already on production.
United chief executive Brian Larkin said: “I would like to thank our existing and new shareholders for their support. We are delighted to have attracted such strong support from institutional and private investors at a time of relative uncertainty within our sector; a clear vote of confidence in our assets, our executive team and in our business model.
“Today's oversubscribed placing strengthens the company's shareholder base considerably with the introduction of institutional investors onto United's register.”
United shares bounced back 4% higher on Friday morning to 3.01p.