Aminex deal delays pile pressure on finances

Oil and gas explorer Aminex has yet to secure a long-awaited buyer for its US assets nor a farm-out partner for its major projects in Tanzania.

The lack of a deal has put pressure on the company's finances, with the refinancing of a short-term loan required soon.

However, one of the the three parties interested in its US exploration, development and producing operations has been given an option to examine the books with the view to making a bid.

The company admitted the process was lasting "a great deal longer" than since-departed Chief Executive Officer Stuard Detmer had anticipated when he announced the potential sale last year.

Aminex said the slow progress was a reflection of "a difficult economic climate for transactions of this kind".

Executive Chairman Brian Hall said that while 2013 had so far been a "complex and challenging period", developments in recent weeks had led him "to believe that we can be optimistic for the company's future".

Likewise, the long-awaited search for a larger partner to take on the bulk of the development of its offshore Ruvuma Basin project has seen more than 30 companies sign confidentiality agreements and review the project data but no further progress.

Aminex admitted that "it has become apparent that the market for relatively early stage farm-outs in frontier areas is less developed than anticipated".

The company acknowledged that securing one of the deals was crucial in order to repay the $8m short term loan it took in January, adding that it was "actively exploring alternatives for funding its core activities and addressing a number of the strategic issues outlined in 2012".

Shares in Aminex were down 27.6% at 2.75p at 10:00 on Monday.

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