A Toronto-based private company with assets in the North Sea has won shareholder approval to take over Calgary-based Ranger Energy Ltd. - and its stock listing.
The two companies reported Wednesday that shareholders from each had approved the amalgamation.
The resulting company will carry the Toronto firm's name - North Sea Energy Inc. - and trade under the symbol NUK after getting final approval from the TSX Venture Exchange.
Craig Anderson, president and chief executive of North Sea Energy, said the public listing will help the company raise money to fuel development of its stakes in six existing North Sea blocks and in others it is attempting to secure.
"When I started the company back in 2007, there were 109 North Sea AIM-listed companies," he said, referring to the Alternative Investment Market of the London Stock Exchange.
"Today there are 45 and of those 45, probably 10 have actual production in the North Sea so we are one of the few that have survived and have production."
The company's production and cash flow come from its 10 per cent stake in the Jacky block operated by Calgarybased Ithaca Energy Inc.
Ranger chief executive Dave Antony said the company was started as a junior capital pool in 1999 and has pursued various ventures but has no assets other than its listing, small working interests in a few Alberta properties and a small amount of cash.
"We've been looking for a transaction such as this," he said, adding investors who voted unanimously supported the deal. Antony will act as a director on the North Sea board.
Analyst Bill Newman of Mackie Research said the North Sea is considered a mature basin and many large companies have left because the bigger, more easily developed pools have been drained.
That leaves room for smaller players in the plays, provided they have access to capital, he added.
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