Echo Energy plc (LON:ECHO), the Latin American focused upstream oil and gas company, has announced that it has successfully agreed the restructuring of the Company’s £1.0 million loan originally provided to the Company in March 2017 and now held by Spartan Class O, a sub-fund of Spartan Fund Limited SAC with the Lender.
The terms of the amendment to the Loan are as follows:
· Maturity extended by 2 years such that the then outstanding remaining principal and accumulated accrued interest will mature on 8 March 2024 following four quarterly cash prepayments of £25,000 commencing on 31 March 2023.
· Interest reduction such that all Loan interest will be accrued and paid on Maturity at a reduced rate of 8% per annum from Amendment (previously 12% per annum) on outstanding principal on a non-compounding basis.
· 15% of the remaining £850,000 Loan principal, representing £127,500, has now been converted into 10,200,000 new Echo ordinary shares at an effective issue price of 1.25p – a premium of 108% to the closing mid market price per Echo ordinary share on 30 September 2021.
· Conversion Shares to be locked-in for a period of 6 months from Admission (as defined below).
Prior to the Amendment the full Loan, together with interest, had been due to mature on 8 March 2022 – with quarterly cash repayments of £50,000 prior to that maturity date.
In connection with the Amendment, the Lender has been issued with 3,096,429 warrants to subscribe for new ordinary shares in the Company at a price of 0.7 pence per new ordinary share, exercisable from the date of grant and with an expiry date of 30 September 2022.
Application has been made for the Conversion Shares, which rank pari passu with the Company’s existing ordinary shares, to be admitted to trading on AIM. It is expected that admission of the Conversion Shares, will occur at 8.00 a.m. on 7 October.
Following Admission, the Company’s issued ordinary share capital will comprise 1,309,013,085 Ordinary Shares, none of which are held in treasury. Therefore, following Admission, the total number of ordinary shares with voting rights in the Company will be 1,309,013,085 which may be used by shareholders as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the Company under the Financial Conduct Authority’s Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules.
Martin Hull, Chief Executive Officer of Echo Energy, commented:
“The successful restructuring of the loan represents an important and positive step for the business as we continue to make great progress in 2021 both commercially and operationally. It materially reduces the near term cash outflow by delaying maturity whilst additionally reducing ongoing debt servicing costs, further strengthening our financial platform. These steps free additional resources to support our ongoing strategy of reinvestment in rapid payback production growth opportunities at a time of commodity price strength, reinforced by our attractively priced gas contracts. By investing in Echo at a more than 100% premium to the prevailing share price and agreeing to the lock up period, not only are the Lenders strengthening the balance sheet but also demonstrating confidence in the business and its strategy. “
