Rockhopper seals £203m fundraising to step up south Atlantic drill activity
FALKLAND Islands-focused oil group Rockhopper completed a £206.3m fundraising yesterday in an effort to ramp up its drilling campaign in the south Atlantic region.
Rockhopper, listed on the Alternative Investment Market (Aim), said the funds – raised through placing a total of 65,500,000 new shares at a price of 315p each – will help it to realise its goal of becoming the first oil producer in the region, after striking black gold at its Sea Lion oil resource in the Falkland Islands earlier this year.
The new shares represent around 34 per cent of Rockhopper’s ordinary shares currently in issue.
The fundraising was headed up by Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s oil and gas expert Andrew Osborne. Also acting on the advisory team was Canaccord.
Rockhopper shares closed down 12p at 324p, though they have almost quadrupled their value this year after the original Falklands discovery.
However, the stock fell sharply only last week, as investors were spooked by the company revising down its reserve estimates for Sea Lion.