Tower Resources plc, the AIM-listed oil and gas company focused on Africa, is pleased to provide an update on the farm-out process in respect of its Thali production-sharing contract in Cameroon (the "PSC").
The Company is also announcing a placing of 4,401,851,851 ordinary shares of 0.001p each (the "Subscription Shares") at a price of 0.027p per Placing Share (the "Placing"), representing a discount of approximately 22.9% to the closing bid price of the Company's shares on 15 October 2024.
The Placing has been arranged by the Company's joint broker, Axis Capital Markets Limited.
Cameroon Farm-out Update
The Company has received an updated proposal from the party whose financing proposal was first announced together with the Company's Interim Results on 30 September 2024, and is also still in discussions with other parties and expecting another proposal in due course.
The updated proposal the Company has received is more detailed and would now provide in excess of US$15 million of funding for the Thali PSC work programme, including drilling the NJOM-3 well (which is already partly funded), in return for a minority interest in the PSC, and with Tower remaining as the Operator. It also provides for future production-based payments to the Company, a portion of which are committed to Pegasus Petroleum Limited ("Pegasus", wholly owned by a trust of which the Company's CEO and Chairman is a lifetime beneficiary) pursuant to agreements made in 2019 arising from the working capital facility that Pegasus had provided to the Company at that time and as announced on 4 March 2021 (the "Production Payment Agreements").
The proposal has normal conditions precedent, including the Cameroon Government's approval for the farm-out and drilling schedule, and the proposal would also require amending the Production Payment Agreements, which the Company believes can be agreed. Importantly, the proposal does not contain any financing contingency as the counterparty has available funds, and a portion of the funding would be secured by a bank guarantee.
The Company is presently reviewing the current proposal and clarifying its terms where appropriate, and expects to work on detailed contracts with this partner, or one of the other parties, over the coming weeks. The Company does not intend to comment further on these negotiations until a final agreement is reached.
The Company is also continuing its discussions with African banks about either or both of a short-term facility to enable earlier production from the NJOM-3 well, and also a longer-term facility to finance production from the subsequent wells the Company intends to drill on the Njonji structure. The Company has now signed a mandate to BDEAC, the Development Bank of the Central African States, for it to provide a guarantee in respect of such a facility, following a lengthy process of due diligence, and that proposal is now being reviewed at the highest levels of the bank.
While we remain confident of achieving a positive funding result, there can be no certainty in respect of the final outcome of discussions or the timing thereof until we have signed definitive agreements.
Placing
The Placing is being made to fund working capital, including work commitments on the Company's licenses. The objective of the Placing is to remove any funding pressure while the Company concludes its Cameroon farm-out negotiations, and to allow the Company to keep operational preparations for drilling the NJOM-3 well moving forward without delay in the meantime; and also to fund the Company's ongoing work on the PEL 96 license in Namibia and to a lesser extent the Algoa-Gamtoos license in South Africa.
The Placing will raise gross proceeds of £1,188,500 through the issue of 4,401,851,851 ordinary shares of 0.001p each at a price of 0.027p per Subscription Share, representing a discount of approximately 22.9% to the closing bid price of the Company's shares on 15 October 2024.
The Subscription Shares will be issued in two tranches with a first tranche of 1,243,851,851 shares ("First Tranche Subscription Shares") and a second tranche of 3,158,000,000 shares ("Second Tranche Subscription Shares").
The Company has agreed to issue the broker, Axis Capital Markets Limited, warrants over 220,092,592 new ordinary shares for arranging the Placing ("Broker Warrants"). The period of the Broker Warrants will be three years at a strike price of 0.027p per share.
Share Capital following the Subscription
Application has been made for the Subscription Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that Admission of the First Tranche Subscription Shares will become effective and that dealings will commence at 8.00 a.m. on or around 22 October 2024. It is expected that Admission of the Second Tranche Subscription Shares will become effective and that dealings will commence at 8.00 a.m. on or around 6 November 2024.
Following admission of the Subscription Shares, the Company's enlarged issued share capital will comprise 22,375,689,275 Ordinary Shares of 0.001p each with voting rights in the Company. This figure may be used by shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change in the interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA's Disclosure and Transparency Rules.
Warrants and Options in Issue
Following the issue of the Broker Warrants, and the expiry of 10,990,933 existing warrants, the total number of warrants in issue is 1,868,424,957 equating to 7.17% of the Company's enlarged share capital assuming full exercise of all warrants and options.
Tower Resources Chairman & CEO, Jeremy Asher, commented:
"We are very pleased with the progress of the farm-out process and look forward to finalising an agreement in the near future. Although the Thali farm-out is a key priority for us, we also want to move forward with our work programme in Namibia and we must ensure that we can also keep well planning on track while financing discussions are completed. This is a very exciting time for the Company."
