African Energy Plans JSE Listing to Fund $311 Million Deal Drive

(Bloomberg) -- African Energy Partners Ltd. plans to sell shares on the alternative board of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange later this month to help fund as much as 4 billion rand ($311 million) of planned acquisitions in the energy and power industries.

An initial public offering on the JSE's AltX index and separate stake sale to a selected group of investors could raise as much as 500 million rand, Chief Operating Officer Nkosi Gugushe said in an emailed response to questions. Stock will be sold to the public at 10 rand a share and the offer will close on June 15 if a minimum target of 50 million rand is reached, he said.

African Energy currently has no assets and will be listed as a special purpose acquisition vehicle, Gugushe said. “Immediately after listing, management will turn its attention to finalizing the terms of its viable asset acquisitions and making preparations to bring those to shareholders for approval,” he said.

Planned acquisition targets are in the electricity and liquefied natural gas industries in southern Africa and will be made over the next 12 months. The Johannesburg-based company will fund deals with debt and equity and plans to return to the market to raise more equity, the COO said.

“We expect to be able to grow our asset base and market capitalization rapidly within the first two years after the IPO,” Gugushe said.

To contact the reporter on this story: Loni Prinsloo in Johannesburg at lprinsloo3@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net, John Bowker, John Viljoen