Madagascar Oil joins AIM
MADAGASCAR Oil will become the latest energy firm to list in London when its shares begin trading on AIM today.
The firm has raised £50.5m by placing a 27.65 per cent stake with investors ahead of the float this morning, it said yesterday, translating to a total market capitalisation of around £183m.
Madagascar Oil said it plans to use the money to explore and develop its five onshore oil blocks in Western Madagascar, with a focus on the Tsimiroro field, which the firm believes holds up to 965m barrels of oil resources.
Chairman and chief executive Laurie Hunter said: “We are delighted that the AIM flotation of the company has been completed successfully and we now look forward to working with our new institutional shareholders and existing shareholders, whom we would like to thank for their ongoing support of the company as we continue to grow.”
Madagascar, which is based in Bermuda and has offices in the US, hopes to follow in the footsteps of firms such as Energy XXI, which last week said it was planning a move to the main market after five years on the AIM.
It was joined on AIM last Wednesday by Jubilant Energy, an Indian power company that raised nearly £55m through its float.
ANGELA PEACE
STRAND HANSON
Strand Hanson is acting as nominated adviser for Madagascar during its move to AIM, while Mirabaud Securities is lead manager and joint broker and GMP Securities is joint broker.
Angela Peace, a director of corporate finance at Strand Hanson, has been with Strand since 2000. She has worked with numerous AIM companies on M&A and equity transactions, and her client list includes North River Resources, Asian Plantations and Kalahari Minerals.
David Altberg, a manager at Strand Hanson, qualified as a solicitor with Brechers and worked for Rosenblatt Solicitors before joining the firm in 2007.
Rory Scott, a partner at Swiss broker Mirabaud, also has a wealth of experience of AIM-listed resources companies, and counts Firestone Diamonds, Chaarat Gold and African Minerals among his clients.
Nick Morgan and Chris Beltgens both joined the oil and gas team at GMP Securities in January from Tristone and Macquarie respectively.