United Oil & Gas PLC Signs Agreement to Sell Licence Containing Maria Oil Discovery
Armstrong Teasdale’s U.K. Mergers and Acquisitions team assisted client United Oil & Gas PLC (United) in the execution of a conditional asset purchase agreement, signed on 16 January 2023 and expected to be completed within 90 days. United is a full-cycle oil and gas company with a portfolio of production, development, exploration and appraisal assets.
Our experienced team assisted United in connection with it entering into a binding asset purchase agreement with Quattro Energy Limited (Quattro), a U.K. company, incorporated in April 2021 with an experienced North Sea focused management team, for the sale of U.K. Central North Sea Licence P2519 containing the Maria oil discovery in Block 15/18e for a maximum consideration including contingent bonus payments of up to £5.7 million.
Quattro separately announced a binding agreement to be acquired by Jesmond Capital Ltd, a Canadian company listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The parties will be conducting a financing which is required by them to fund the completion of the acquisition of the Licence.
United Chief Executive Officer, Brian Larkin commented: “Active portfolio management, to realise value from our assets, has always been a key part of United’s strategy. We are pleased to be signing the APA with Quattro, who have agreed a materially higher maximum consideration than in 2021, reflecting the increased value of the Licence following the work completed by our technical team over the last 12 months. Whilst the Company explored options whereby we participated directly in the future development of Maria, we ultimately believe that monetising the Maria discovery at this time provides us with a significant return from our investment and gives us additional capital to continue to execute our ambition to grow the business in our core focus areas in the Greater Mediterranean and North Africa regions. We wish Quattro all the very best for their new venture.”
“Armstrong Teasdale is pleased to have played a role in this important transaction for United,” said Partner Una Deretic, who led the Armstrong Teasdale team. Deretic was assisted in the transaction by Senior Associate Coral Yu.
