TORONTO, ON / ACCESSWIRE / June 14, 2022 / Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (AIM:ECO)(TSXV:EOG) ("Eco"), the oil and gas exploration company focused on the offshore Atlantic Margins, and JHI Associates Inc. ("JHI") have mutually agreed that Eco will no longer proceed with the proposed acquisition of the balance of the issued share capital of JHI not currently held by it (the "Acquisition"). JHI holds a 17.5% participating interest in the Canje Block offshore Guyana.
While all the main commercial points were agreed upon in keeping with the Commercially Binding Term Sheet announced on 14 March 2022 (including the proposed issuance of 127m new common shares of Eco to JHI shareholders), it was not possible to agree on the terms of lock-up arrangements required by Eco, designed to restrict and control any subsequent immediate sale of the consideration shares to be issued to the shareholders of JHI, to provide Eco Atlantic's shareholders with the appropriate levels of protection in such a transaction. As a result, the Board of Eco Atlantic has decided not to progress with the acquisition at the current time.
Gil Holzman, Co-Founder and CEO of Eco Atlantic commented:
"With the exclusivity period of our JHI negotiations ending last night, we have terminated the JHI proposed acquisition. We are unable to proceed without the appropriate protection for our shareholders that such lock-up arrangements were designed to provide. We look forward to remaining a significant shareholder in JHI with over 7% of the company and, as such, retain exposure to the potential of the Canje Block. We wish the JHI management the best of luck in growing and monetizing the business to benefit all shareholders. Notwithstanding termination of discussions, we and JHI may re-evaluate the proposed acquisition at a future date.
We look forward to commencing our drilling campaigns planned in the prospective Block 2B in South Africa and Guyana this year and providing further corporate updates as appropriate."