12 December 2024
Serica Energy plc
('Serica' or 'the Company')
Acquisition of assets from Parkmead
Group
Serica Energy plc (AIM: SQZ)
announces that it has signed an agreement to acquire 100% of the
shares in Parkmead (E&P) Limited ('PUK') from Parkmead Group
Plc ('Parkmead'), which includes a 50% working interest in licence
P2400 (Skerryvore) and a 50% working interest in licence P2634
(Fynn Beauly), for an initial consideration of £5 million ($6.4
million[1]).
An additional deferred consideration
of £9 million ($11.5 million1) will be paid in stages
over the next three years, as well as contingent payments linked to
certain development milestones - payable on receipt by Serica of
approval by the North Sea Transition Authority ('NSTA') for a field
development plan ('FDP') relating to Skerryvore or Fynn Beauly.
These payments are calculated based on £0.8/bbl of net 2P reserves
contained within the respective FDP, subject to a cap of £30
million and £90 million respectively.
The transaction provides optionality
regarding future projects, simplifies decision making, and provides
strategic flexibility relating to the existing position in
Skerryvore through consolidating the interests in the P2400
licence, in which Serica Energy (UK) Limited, a wholly owned
subsidiary of Serica, already holds a 20% interest. Following
completion of the transaction, Serica will hold 70% and become the
operator.
The P2634 licence was awarded in the
33rd Licencing Round in July 2024 to PUK, as operator,
and Orcadian Energy, and includes the Fynn Beauly heavy oil
discovery. The current licence commitment is limited to technical
studies to assess the feasibility of reducing Fynn Beauly oil
viscosity using enhanced oil recovery techniques.
PUK has carried forward tax loss
balances which as at the transaction economic date of 30 June 2024
amounted to £197 million of ring-fence corporation tax losses, £181
million of supplementary charge tax losses, £1 million of Energy
Profits Levy losses and £12 million of activated investment
allowances. PUK has no employees.
The transaction is expected to close
in the first half of 2025, subject to customary completion
adjustments and the carve-out of PUK's Dutch assets to a Parkmead
affiliate and NSTA change of control consent.
-end-
Enquiries:
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Serica Energy
plc
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+44 (0)20 7487
7300
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Martin Copeland (CFO) / Andrew Benbow (Group
Investor Relations Manager)
|
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Peel Hunt
(Nomad & Joint Broker)
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+44 (0)20 7418
8900
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Richard Crichton / David McKeown / Emily
Bhasin
|
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Jefferies
(Joint Broker)
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+44 (0)20 7029
8000
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Sam Barnett / Will Soutar
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Vigo
Consulting (PR Advisor)
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+44 (0)20 7390
0230
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Patrick d'Ancona / Finlay Thomson
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serica@vigoconsulting.com
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Serica Energy is a British
independent oil and gas exploration and production company with a
portfolio of UKCS assets. Serica has a balance of gas and oil
production. The Company is responsible for about 5% of the natural
gas produced in the UK, a key element in the UK's energy
transition.
Serica's producing assets are
focused around two main hubs: the Bruce, Keith and Rhum fields in
the UK Northern North Sea, which it operates, and a mix of operated
and non-operated fields tied back to the Triton FPSO. Serica also
has operated interests in the producing Columbus (UK Central North
Sea) and Orlando (UK Northern North Sea) fields and a non-operated
interest in the producing Erskine field in the UK Central North Sea
and interests in several earlier stage licences.
Serica has a two-pronged strategy
for growth comprising investment in its existing portfolio and
M&A. Further information on the Company can be found
at www.serica-energy.com.
The Company's shares are traded on the AIM market of the London
Stock Exchange under the ticker SQZ and the Company is a designated
foreign issuer on the TSX. To receive Company news releases via
email, please subscribe via the Company website.
