Pan Pacific Petroleum to sell Vietnam stake to Repsol

Oil and gas company Pan Pacific Petroleum has agreed to sell its Vietnam subsidiary to Repsol for $5 million.

The subsidiary Pan Pacific Petroleum (Vietnam) owns a 5% interest in Block 07/03 located in the Nam Con Son Basin in the South China Sea.

PPP’s Executive Director, Grant Worner, said: “After the sale PPP will be in a strong financial position with no debts and estimated cash of circa US$16 million (unaudited) and liquid investments of US$3 million (unaudited).

“Monetization of this investment at this time means PPP’s current assets will be approximately twice the market capitalization of the company.

“PPP will then have the freedom to deploy its capital in a range of affordable investment opportunities rather than committing to and being reliant on a single investment that is significantly larger than existing funding capabilities.”

In a stock exchange announcement on Monday, the company said it was actively reviewing new oil and gas opportunities as well as opportunities in other sectors.

“The company’s combination of corporate and technical expertise, low overheads, significant financial backing and cash reserves with no debts, places it in an ideal position to grow through investments and acquisition, particularly at a time when asset values are giving rise to a large number of attractively priced opportunities,” PPP said.

The completion of the transaction is subject to shareholder approval. PPP said it had provided standard warranties in relation to the sale of PPPV and the 5% interest in Block 07/03. The sale agreement may be terminated if the company breaches a warranty or a material adverse change occurs which is not remedied within 7 days, PPP.

The company said it would issue a notice of meeting seeking shareholder approval for the transaction in due course.