EGY - VAALCO Energy Inc. Announces Closing of Accretive All Cash Svenska Acquisition | Benzinga

HOUSTON, April 30, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- VAALCO Energy, Inc. (NYSE:EGY, LSE: EGY)) ("VAALCO" or the "Company") today announced that it has closed the acquisition of Svenska Petroleum Exploration AB ("Svenska"), an exploration and production ("E&P") company based in Stockholm, Sweden (the "Acquisition"). As previously disclosed, Svenska's primary asset is a 27.39% non-operated working interest in the deepwater producing Baobab field in Block CI-40, offshore Cote d'Ivoire in West Africa. Net purchase price of $40.2 million was fully funded by cash on hand with no issuance of debt or equity.  

Transaction Highlights:

• Immediately accretive to shareholders on key metrics:
  
  • Following the planned shutdown for maintenance in April, the Baobab field is back on production with a current rate in excess of 5,000 VAALCO working interest ("WI") barrels of oil equivalent per day ("BOEPD") (99% oil);
  • Includes estimated 1P WI CPR reserves as of October 1, 2023, of 13.0 million barrels of oil equivalent ("MMBOE") (99% oil) and total 2P WI CPR reserves at October 1, 2023, of 21.7 million MMBOE (97% oil);¹ and
• Strategically expands West African focus area with a sizeable producing asset that has significant upside potential and considerable future development opportunities in Cote d'Ivoire, a well-established and investment-friendly country.

George Maxwell, VAALCO's Chief Executive Officer commented, "We are very pleased to have closed this highly accretive acquisition in less than two months. We continue to enhance our diversified portfolio by building size and scale that allows VAALCO to generate significant free cash flow and execute our strategic vision. We are excited to be partnering with Petroci and Canadian Natural Resources International, and believe the Baobab field in Cote d'Ivoire is an outstanding asset with significant upside potential. We will be incorporating the production, revenue and related operating expenses from the acquisition into our Q2 2024 and full year 2024 guidance that we will discuss in our upcoming first quarter earnings release and conference call in early May. This is highly accretive on key metrics to our shareholder base and provides another strong asset to support future growth. We continue to have no bank debt and we will use our strong balance sheet to fund our growth activities, all while returning value to our shareholders."

Advisors

VAALCO retained Stifel as sole financial advisor, and Mayer Brown International LLP as legal counsel.

Svenska Petroleum Exploration AB retained Evercore Partners International LLP and GKA Advisors LLP as financial advisers and Fieldfisher LLP as legal counsel.

About VAALCO

VAALCO, founded in 1985 and incorporated under the laws of Delaware, is a Houston, Texas, USA based, independent energy company with a diverse portfolio of production, development and exploration assets across Gabon, Egypt, Cote d'Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea and Canada.

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