Altona Energy Plc - Result of Open Offer - Overview of New Strategy

Altona Energy Plc - Result of Open Offer - Overview of New Strategy

PR Newswire

London, May 19

19 May 2020

ALTONA ENERGY PLC
("Altona" or "the Company")

RESULT OF OPEN OFFER
And
OVERVIEW OF NEW STRATEGIC DIRECTION

Altona (AQSE: ANR.PL), a mining exploration company, announces that it has taken the decision to cancel the Open Offer, due to it not raising the minimum amount required to acquire the Petroleum Exploration Licence Application, it was pursuing in South Australia. Therefore, those shareholders who subscribed for shares in the offer, will now be refunded the full amount of their subscription monies in relation to the Open Offer.

The board will not seek another coal mining licence in South Australia.

Since the start of April, when the board considered that the Open Offer might not receive a sufficiently high enough level of shareholder support, the Company has been in discussions with three companies, all of which are looking to acquire an Aquis Stock Exchange listing via the process of a reverse takeover. The board of Altona is cautiously optimistic that one of these negotiations will culminate in a takeover of the Company's Aquis Stock Exchange listing, thereby potentially changing the direction of the current strategy of the business. In assessing these options the board will consider a number of key factors, for example; time to profitability, shareholder value, suitability of incoming directors, ability to raise capital, dilutive effect of issuing new shares to acquire the business, sustainable 'popularity' of the specific industry.

It is hoped that a suitable non-binding heads of terms agreement for this transaction will be reached in the coming weeks.

It is expected that a further fund raise will need to be completed in order to cover the costs of the reverse takeover process. However, due to the lack of interest from shareholders in supporting the Company, as shown by the response to the Open Offer, the board is now speaking with potential brokers with the view of raising funds through more traditional channels.

All three of the above companies have indicated that they would be able to bring new capital investment into the "NewCo".

Failure to enter into a transaction, such as contemplated above, in short order is likely to leave the Company which insufficient funds to continue as a going concern.

The Company will keep shareholders apprised of the situation once an outcome has been determined.

-ends-

For further information, please visit www.altonaenergy.com or contact:

Altona Energy plc Christian Taylor-Wilkinson, Interim CEO Philip Sutherland, Non-Executive Director	[phone] [phone]
Alfred Henry Corporate Finance Ltd (Aquis Corporate Adviser) Jon Isaacs / Nick Michaels	[phone]
Leander (Financial PR)	[phone]

Company Information

Altona is a mining exploration company focused on the evaluation, development and extraction of minerals.

The Company was admitted to trading on AIM on 10 March 2005 and was subsequently admitted to NEX (now Aquis Stock Exchange) on 1 February 2019. A copy of its admission documents dated 4 March 2005 can be accessed on its website, www.altonaenergy.com. This website is where items can be inspected under Rule 75 of the NEX Rules for Issuers, from 1 February 2019.