Stephenson Harwood LLP has advised three separate companies – The Parkmead Group plc (Parkmead), KSK Power Ventur plc (KSK) and Frontera Resources Corporation (Frontera), on their recent secondary fundraisings, raising over £60 million in aggregate. Stephenson Harwood provided legal guidance to the companies throughout the entire process, from the decision to place the shares, to the finalisation of the fundraisings.
Stephenson Harwood advised Parkmead, an AIM quoted independent oil and gas company, on its oversubscribed placing of 15,686,275 new ordinary shares at 225 pence per share, raising £40 million. The proceeds of the placing will be used to finance Parkmead's on-going capital commitments and to explore opportunities in the sector including the funding of further M&A activity. 2013 was a highly successful year for Parkmead, which saw substantial growth in the group's oil and gas portfolio, including its takeover of Lochard Energy Group Plc in respect of which Stephenson Harwood also advised.
Stephenson Harwood also advised new client KSK, a power project company listed on the London Stock Exchange with interests in multiple power plants and businesses across India, on its placing of 15,930,000 ordinary shares, for new and existing institutional shareholders, at 130 pence per share, raising £20.7 million. The placing comprised a firm element using existing shareholder permissions with the balance conditionally placed, subject to shareholder approval. The proceeds will be used by KSK to invest in its rail, water and mineral resources infrastructure activities related to the KSK Mahanadi (Chattisgarh) 3,600 MW site, as well as its ongoing working capital requirements.
Finally, Stephenson Harwood advised another new client, Frontera, an international oil and gas company with interests in the Republic of Georgia, on a new subscription for approximately £1 million. The new subscription shares represent approximately 4.8% of the enlarged issue share capital of the company.
Commenting on the three separate placings, Tom Nicholls, partner in the corporate practice at Stephenson Harwood, said: "We are extremely pleased to have advised Parkmead, KSK and Frontera on these important share placings, which will enable the companies to develop further. We are delighted to have advised Parkmead on this share placing, which follows on from the work we did last year in relation to its takeover of Lochard Energy. We are also delighted to have been appointed to advise KSK and Frontera for the first time."
"We are continuing to see appetite in the London Markets for both secondary offerings and IPOs, and look forward to continuing to help all our clients achieve their goals within this area."
The Stephenson Harwood corporate finance team on each of these transactions was led by partner Tom Nicholls, with associates Luwisha Neskovic and Jennifer Tyson assisting.
