Ascent to appoint David Bullion as NED

Ascent Resources plc intends to appoint David Bullion as a non-executive director, among other board changes, as the company adds the mid-stream sector to its portfolio.

Mr Bullion is CIO of American Helium and CEO of GNG Partners LLC, before which he held senior positions across the world during his 20 years with BP.

Ascent also intends to appoint Edouard Etienvre as an independent non-executive director, subject to regulatory checks.

Mr Etienvre is a finance and commercial executive with more than 18 years’ experience in the oil and gas sector.

Current NEDs Malcolm Graham Wood and Marco Fumagalli will leave the Ascent board and the company at the end of May.

Chairman James Parsons said: “On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Malcolm Graham Wood and Marco Fumagalli for their invaluable contributions to the business over recent years, without which this first transaction would not have been possible.”

FUNDRAISE

Ascent has also raised $1.7 million via an equity fundraise and loan note issue for its Utah-focused GNG investment.

The company raised £555,000 through the issue of 24,130,435 new ordinary shares of 0.5p each in the company at a price of  2.3 pence per new share.

One share has three warrants attached exercisable at 140% of the issue price of the closing bid price on 22 April, at any time in the next four years.

A placing of 16,956,522 new ordinary shares of 0.5p raised £390,000 and a subscription of 7,173,913 new ordinary shares also of 0.5p each raised £165,000.

The company said that, to minimise dilution at the current share price, it had entered into a new $2m senior secured fixed coupon loan facility with RiverFort Global Opportunities PCC Ltd, with an initial $1m loan issued.

C4 Energy Ltd, a company in which Ascent CEO Andrew Dennan, chairman Mr Parsons and outgoing NED Marco Fumagalli each have a 25% beneficial interest, subscribed for 2,173,913 subscription shares.

Mr Parsons elected to receive a portion of his salary for the next six months in the form of new ordinary shares in the company. He received a total 678,261 new ordinary shares of the company, reflecting the net of tax balance, at the issue price. 

Following C4 Energy’s subscription, Mr Dennan is beneficially interested in 2,683,478 ordinary shares, representing 1.13% of the enlarged issued share capital of which 543,478 ordinary shares are indirectly held through C4 Energy.

Mr Parsons is beneficially interested in 1,722,639 ordinary shares (0.72%) of which 543,478 ordinary shares are indirectly held through C4 Energy.

Mr Fumagalli is beneficially interested in 543,478 ordinary shares (0.23%) of which 543,478 are indirectly held through C4 Energy.

MBD Partners SA, which currently holds 20.54% of existing ordinary shares in Ascent, subscribed for 5m subscription shares.

The company is also issuing 1,743,348 new ordinary shares of 0.5p each in the company as arranger fees for the GNG transaction, as well as 1,017,391 broker warrants in relation to the new funding.

Following admission of the fundraising, arranger, salary sacrifice and loan shares, the company will have 238,122,961 ordinary shares in issue, none of which will be held in treasury.