Camber Energy, Inc. announced that Camber and Viking Energy Group, Inc. entered into definitive agreements pursuant to which Camber acquired, effective December 23, 2020, 51% of the issued and outstanding common stock of Viking for $20.1 million. The purchase price was payable through the cancelation of $9.2 million of existing debt owed by Viking to Camber, and payment of $10.9 million in cash. Funds to facilitate the cash payment were provided to Camber via loan from its existing preferred stockholder.
James Doris, President & CEO of the two companies commented, "We are extremely pleased to have closed this transaction. The new deal is an alternative to the previous merger arrangement, and we believe it is even more beneficial to the stakeholders of both Camber and Viking as it allows the entities, individually and collectively, to immediately pursue other value-added opportunities while concurrently addressing the plan to fully combine the two companies."
James A. Doris, Viking's current President & CEO, has been appointed to Camber's Board of Directors and is the Company's new President & CEO. Mr. Doris, leveraging 28 years of experience negotiating national and international business transactions, has been the driving force behind Viking's growth. He has assembled a sophisticated and talented operational and technical team and closed several acquisitions and financing transactions to enhance Viking's profile in the oil and gas sector, and will play an integral role in formulating and executing Camber's strategic plan going forward. Formerly a lawyer in Canada, Mr. Doris represented domestic and foreign clients regarding their investment activities in Canada for over 17 years. Mr. Doris graduated cum laude from the University of Ottawa.
Robert Green has also been appointed to Camber's Board of Directors. As a former Fortune 100 chief executive officer in the energy, telecommunication and utility industries, Mr. Green has extensive experience in capital markets, mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory and legislative strategies. Mr. Green has served on the boards of directors of seven publicly traded companies and was elected chairman of the board of two New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) companies and three other publicly listed companies. He guided these companies and others in capital markets strategies involving initial public offerings (IPOs) and private investments with a combined value of more than $5 billion and more than 50 merger, acquisition and divestiture transactions, some of which surpassed $1 billion.
Frank Barker Jr. has been appointed as Camber's Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Barker, a Certified Public Accountant, has over 40 years of experience providing strategic, managerial, operational, financial, accounting and tax-related services in various capacities to both public and private entities. Mr. Barker has served as the Chief Financial Officer of several publicly-traded companies, including for Viking for the past three years. Mr. Barker received a B.A. in Accounting and Finance from the University of South Florida.
