Backed by Australia’s largest specialist CSM company, Arrow Energy, as a cornerstone shareholder, Pure Energy closed its offer late Friday following a strong response from investors.
The company lodged a prospectus for the offer of up to 25 million shares at 20c, together with 12.5 million free attaching options on the basis of one attaching option for every two shares issued.
The lead manager to the raising and Pure’s corporate adviser is boutique investment advisory group and specialist smallcap fund manager, Cygnet Capital.
Pure managing director Steve Beardsall said there had been a strong response from both retail and institutional investors to the public offer, reflecting the high level of interest in companies offering cleaner, cost-effective energy options.
“CSM offers a competitive alternative to gas from other sources and is increasingly recognised as having the potential to meet a significant proportion of eastern Australia’s energy requirements,” he said.
The company was formed by a consortium of experienced oil and gas executives to target Australia’s emerging CSM market.
Pure has five CSM permits in Queensland’s Bowen Basin: two granted permits covering 13,000 square kilometres and three permit applications covering 4900sq.km, and a single permit in eastern Tasmania, covering 12,000sq.km.
Arrow Energy, which took up a cornerstone $1 million seed capital investment in Pure, has also reached an agreement to farm-in to two of its Queensland projects. Following the IPO, Arrow is expected to hold a 14% interest in Pure, which could increase to about 25% on a fully diluted basis.
Beardsall said Pure was well-placed to leverage off historic coal mining exploration data covering its blocks.
“After listing on the ASX, we plan to kick off an aggressive drilling program to define reserves within our tenements as quickly as possible, with a view to delineating sufficient reserves to underpin commercial operations,” he said.
Both the Queensland and Tasmanian project areas are close to existing infrastructure and growing energy markets.
The permits are adjacent to established commercial CSM projects including Arrow’s Moranbah Project, Santos’ Fairview Project, Origin Energy’s Spring Gully Project and Anglo Coal’s Moura Project, and are located close to the existing Moranbah and Gladstone Pipelines.
