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(IPSA.L) IPSA Group PLC Buy/Sell
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| Date/Time | Headline | Source |
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| 09-03-10 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 3132I IPSA Group PLC 09 March 2010
IPSA Group PLC ("IPSA" or "the Company") Issue of Loan Notes and Agreement with Standard Bank and TurboCare Highlights · Loan Notes to provide £650,000 interim funding
· New standstill arrangements with the Company's major creditors IPSA PLC (AIM: IPSA), the developer, owner and operator of power generation capacity in Southern Africa, announces that on 5 March 2010 the Company entered into an agreement with RAB Energy Fund Limited and certain other investors (together the "Loan Note Holders") to issue £650,000 of unsecured loan notes (the "Loan Notes") to the Loan Note Holders. On the same day, the Company also entered into an agreement with Standard Bank PLC ("Standard Bank") and TurboCare S.p.A. ("TurboCare") regarding the marketing of the Company's gas turbines, which also provides a standstill arrangement regarding funds due to both these parties.
TERMS OF THE LOAN NOTES Under the terms of the agreement, the Company will issue £650,000 of unsecured loan notes of £1 each, which carry interest of 6% per annum, and which are due for repayment (the "Repayment Date"), together with accrued interest thereon, on the earlier of:
· The sale of two of the Siemens Westinghouse 701 DU turbines ("the Turbines") (including the Turbine already conditionally sold to IPC as announced on 23 December 2009); or
In accordance with the agreement, the Company intends that the proceeds from issuing the Loan Notes will be applied for the purposes of the development of the Elitheni coal project at Indwe, South Africa, and for general operational and working capital purposes. In addition, the Company has agreed to issue to the Loan Note Holders warrants (the "Loan Note Warrants") over 6,500,000 ordinary shares of 2 pence each in the capital of the Company (the "Ordinary Shares"), exercisable between the Repayment Date and 30 months thereafter, at the lower of 19 pence per Ordinary Share and the price at which any future Ordinary Shares are issued prior to such exercise.
PUT OPTION In order to secure this investment from the Loan Note Holders, Independent Power Corporation PLC ("IPC"), a company controlled by Peter Earl, chief executive of IPSA Group plc, has entered into an option agreement to acquire the Loan Notes, the accrued interest thereon, and the Loan Note Warrants from the Loan Note Holders, at the option of the Loan Note Holders (the "Put Option") in the event of certain defaults by the Company.
WORKING CAPITAL Having entered in the conditional sale of one of the Turbines, which is still subject to completion of financing arrangements, the Company continues to market the three remaining Turbines actively. Given the continued extreme difficulty of the Company's present working capital position, as announced on 23 December 2009, the directors of IPSA believe that this transaction is in the best interests of shareholders, in that it provides essential short term funding. Insofar as the Loan Note Holders can exercise the Put Option to sell the Loan Notes and transfer the Loan Note Warrants to IPC, a related party of the Company, the independent directors of the Company consider, having consulted with the Company's Nominated Adviser, Execution Noble & Company Limited, that the terms of the Loan Note and Warrant agreements are fair and reasonable insofar as shareholders of the Company are concerned.
THE STANDARD BANK AND TURBOCARE AGREEMENT The agreement between the Company, Standard Bank and TurboCare governs the marketing of the Turbines and the distribution of proceeds received in connection with a sale. The agreement also provides for a standstill arrangement whereby Standard Bank and TurboCare, the Company's two largest creditors, have undertaken that they will not take proceedings against IPSA to recover the debts owed to them and that they will not enforce any security rights they may have during the term of the agreement. This agreement terminates on 31 January 2011, or earlier in the event that Standard Bank and TurboCare are paid all sums due to them prior to that date or at Standard Bank's election after 30 November 2010 in the event that TurboCare has not secured a sale.
UPDATE RE CONDITIONAL SALE OF FIRST TURBINE TO IPC As noted above, the conditional sale of the first turbine to IPC and its branch office, IPOL Bolivia Sucursal, which was announced on 23 December 2009, is still subject to completion of IPC's financing arrangements.
NEWCOGEN UPDATE IPSA's wholly-owned subsidiary, Newcastle Cogeneration Pty Ltd ("NewCogen") is currently endeavouring to secure a power purchase contract with Eskom for its power plant which it owns in KwaZulu Natal under the delayed Medium Term Power Purchase Programme ("MTPPP"). There has been no new announcement from Eskom regarding the MTPPP. However, on 24 February 2010 the South African electricity regulator announced the new multi-year price determination for Eskom, which included an allocation of resources in connection with power purchase contracts with independent power producers, of which the MTPPP forms a part. It is the intention of the directors of NewCogen to substantially refinance its 18 MW power plant as soon as a power purchase agreement is signed. NewCogen needs to come to an agreement with Sasol Gas for a new gas contract and settle overdue amounts of approximately £3m claimed by Sasol in respect of gas consumption and take or pay liabilities prior to restarting the plant. Speaking today in London, Peter Earl, CEO of IPSA said: "I am delighted that we have secured an important injection of short term liquidity into IPSA as we continue the marketing process to sell the remaining three Siemens Westinghouse 701 turbines not yet under contract." The Company also announces that Noble & Company Limited, the Company's Nominated Adviser and Broker, has changed its name to Execution Noble & Company Limited with immediate effect.
For further information contact:
John Llewellyn-Lloyd / Harry Stockdale, Execution Noble +44 (0)20 7456 9191
& Company Ltd:
Communications This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 10-02-10 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 9409G IPSA Group PLC 10 February 2010 10 February 2010 IPSA Group PLC ("IPSA" or the "Company") Notifiable Interest IPSA, the independent power plant developer, announces that it received notification on 9 February 2010 that on 8 February 2010 Credit Suisse Securities (Europe) Ltd holds an interest in 7,345,776 ordinary shares of 2p each in the Company, representing 7.73% of the issued share capital of the Company. For further information contact:
Communications
This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 23-12-09 | RNS |
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RNS Number : 6473E IPSA Group PLC 23 December 2009 23 December 2009 IPSA Group PLC ("IPSA" or "the Company") Trading and Working Capital Update and Conditional Turbine Sale Agreement IPSA PLC (AIM:IPSA), the developer, owner and operator of power generation capacity in Southern Africa, announces an update as regards its current trading and working capital position, and a conditional related party agreement to sell one of its turbines.
TRADING AND WORKING CAPITAL UPDATE Over the last year the Company has been actively seeking to sell one or more of its four Siemens Westinghouse 701 DU turbines (formerly referred to as the Fiat Avio 501 D turbines, and now upgraded) ( the "Turbines") which were originally acquired for the delayed Coega project at Port Elizabeth, South Africa. Whilst strict cost containment measures have been implemented, with no revenues currently being generated the Company's working capital position remains extremely tight, with little visibility beyond the next few months unless further working capital can be raised in the intervening period. As previously announced, the most advanced discussions that have been taking place with regard to realising value from the Turbines have been with Independent Power Corporation PLC ('IPC'), a company with significant experience in developing and operating power projects in a number of countries including in Latin America. IPC is controlled by Peter Earl, chief executive of IPSA and IPC. In the last few weeks, the Company has been informed that IPC have advanced an opportunity to develop a gas-fired power plant at Huaricana near La Paz, Bolivia, using one of the Company's Turbines, which will require IPC to acquire conditionally the Turbine with immediate effect. Finance for the Huaricana project has been offered by local Bolivian banks and contractors. Corporacion Andina de Fomento ("CAF"), the Andean Development Corporation has expressed an interest in participating in the financing of the project. Financial close and the commencement of construction are both expected at the end of the first quarter of 2010. However, it must be emphasised that completion of this development is dependent on, inter alia, appropriate financing being available to IPC and on its obtaining appropriate approvals in the coming months from the Bolivian Electricity Control Authority to install and develop the power plant. Given the difficulty of the Company's present working capital position, and after discussions with the Company's bank, the directors of IPSA believe that entering into a contract to sell a Turbine to IPC for the purposes of the Huaricana power project is in the best interests of shareholders.
CONDITIONAL SALE OF ONE OF THE TURBINES On 22 December 2009, the Company therefore entered into a conditional agreement with IPC and IPOL Bolivia Sucursal ("IPOL"), a branch office of a subsidiary of IPC, for the sale of one of its four Turbines to IPOL for US$ 30 million. The consideration is consistent with an independent valuation carried out in January 2009 on behalf of Standard Bank. The agreement provides for a deposit of US$ 1 million, a further US$ 20 million payable within 90 days thereafter (the "Completion Date"), and the final US$ 9 million payable by 31 March 2011. The deposit has been recognised by IPSA through the extinguishing of US$ 1 million of existing sterling indebtedness of IPSA to IPC. The deposit is refundable at IPSA's option should it wish to terminate the agreement prior to the Completion Date, and at IPOL's option if two conditions precedent are not satisfied (or waived by IPOL) relating to the Company obtaining consent for the transaction from the Company's bank, Standard Bank, and from Turbocare (which holds the Turbines). Upon satisfaction of the conditions precedent, completion is due to take place upon the payment of the second instalment of US$ 20 million, by which time, in the first quarter of 2010, formal Bolivian governmental approvals for the Huaricana project are expected to be granted and construction is expected to have commenced. The directors of IPSA have been advised that the Huaricana plant could enter into commercial operations in the first quarter of 2011, being the point at which the final balance of funds are due for payment under the contract. The funds payable on completion will be used by the Company to make a partial repayment of its senior debt facility secured on the turbines and a partial payment of the refurbishment costs. It is intended that the balance will be retained by the Company for working capital purposes. Peter Earl, chief executive of the Company, controls IPC. Elizabeth Shaw, the Company's chief operating officer, is also a director of IPC. James West, a non-executive director of IPSA was formerly a director of IPC. As a result, the conditional sale of the Turbine to IPOL and the extinguishing of part of IPC's loan to IPSA are both classified as related party transactions under the AIM Rules. The Independent Directors, being Stephen Hargrave and Neil Bryson, consider, having consulted with Noble & Company Limited (the Company's nominated adviser), that the terms of the sale and purchase agreement and the related extinguishing of part of IPC's loan to IPSA are fair and reasonable insofar as IPSA's shareholders are concerned. Commenting on the sale of the turbine, Peter Earl, chief executive of IPSA, said: "This agreement for the sale of a turbine for a fast track project in Bolivia confirms the belief of the Board of IPSA that the best price will be realised for the Company's Siemens Westinghouse turbines by selling them into a project rather than as commodity items. There is a world-wide shortage of large gas turbines available for immediate delivery and we believe that the best return for IPSA shareholders comes from selling our turbines directly into power projects in emerging markets." For further information contact:
Communications This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange END
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| 07-01-10 | ||||
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Interesting article. Shame Eskom still has the shackles on IPSA and is preventing it from supplying. Hopefully the power cut's returning will increase the pressure on Eskom to open the market to independant's. It will be a shame if the lights go out in a world cup game, or maybe they will play it safe and play all games day time.
I will check out SNRP though and its underground coal gasification. This technology is also mentioned on the AFC board. AFC jumped 35% today. I have been hanging around a long time for a similar rise from IPSA. One day? |
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| 07-01-10 |
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related Fleet Street Investments are now all over this stock, along with SNRP.
Pretty much a rehash of Bonobo's research from 6 months or so ago! Can only be good news for the sp in the short term. "One stock set to soar from the underground energy revolution BY TOM BULFORD Dear Reader, Joseph Stalin does not sound like a very nice man to have worked for. He had this idea that digging up coal from underground in order to burn it as soon as it reached the surface was a bit of a waste of time and effort. Why not simply burn it while still underground and then simply draw up the heat and gases through a pipe? Convinced that this was a smart idea he set his scientists to work on the problem. Unfortunately for twelve of these scientists, they failed to do so and Stalin had them executed. But to be fair to Stalin, his idea was right but just a little ahead of its time. Last week the UK Coal Authority granted a license to Clean Coal, a subsidiary of the quoted Anglo-American (ticker: AAL) to put Stalin’s theory into practice. Under the North Sea, within ten kilometres of the coast, is enough coal to satisfy UK demand for at least ten years. The difficulty is getting it out. But thanks to a new technology called Underground Coal Gasification this is no longer necessary. Let me show you how it will work… How to make hard-to-reach coal fuel a power station A drill will bore its way through the ground at somewhere, on land, close to perhaps Grimsby. Having reached the required depth it will then take a ninety degree turn and head out sideways underneath the coastline until it hits the coal seam. Next a second bore hole will be drilled into the coal seam. Once that is done the coal will be set alight underground, and will be constantly fanned by oxygen fed down one of the pipes. Up the other pipe will come a methane-rich synthetic gas able to fuel a power station. This will not be the first time that this has been done. Similar projects are already up and running. In the course of investigating a penny share company last week, I came across another such plan. This was Strategic Natural Resources (ticker: SNRP), and I managed to catch up with chief executive Jeremy Metcalfe, a man whose enthusiasm and energy defies his seventy years... SNRP has something rather large and obvious in its favour. But so far this has not been enough to reward its shareholders. This is the massive Elitheni coal deposit in the south-easterly region of South Africa, the Eastern Cape. So far SNRP has proven a coal resource of ninety seven million tonnes, but given that exploration so far has covered less than 2% of the 180,000 hectares of prospecting rights the actual resource could be very considerably higher. What is more this coal has a very obvious use... The situation that could trigger a rally in these two stocks South Africa is desperately short of power. Although the recession temporarily reduced demand from the mining industry, power cuts are now re-emerging on a regular basis. State generator, Eskom, is simply not keeping pace with demand. With the World Cup coming to South Africa next summer this is not only a major economic problem but an embarrassment. SNRP’s anthracitic coal is ideal for burning in power stations. It is also ideally situated because some 10% of the power that Eskom generates in the north of the country is lost in transit to the important south-eastern coastal cities of Durban and Port Elizabeth. So SNRP’s business plan involved a tie-up with AIM-quoted IPSA (ticker: IPSA) which planned to build one power plant at the site of the Elitheni coal mine and another at Coega near Port Elizabeth. IPSA’s plans, however, fell foul of the credit crunch and left it with the need to sell off the giant turbines ordered for Coega. I understand that this sale could be close. If so, it could be a trigger point for both its shares and those of SNRP. But SNRP is not rel . . . Read Full Message More | View thread (2) | Respond | Login to Vote up |
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| 23-12-09 | ||||
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Saw Rurelec's RNS first thing, but didn,t read it. http://moneyextra.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200912230701405955E.html Do think Peter Earl will pull IPSA through this, as he can use Rurelec to help us out. I am quite confidant with my holding in these, and also SNRP who's fortunes are linked. |
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| 20-10-09 | ||||
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I apologise for my ignorance but not much experience with this company. Would be grateful if some kind soul could explain the inter relationship between IPSA,IPC, ECCH, SNR and Atlantic Coal.
I thought that IPSA & IPC are both companies controlled by Peter Earl with IPC assisting IPSA financially at the moment (recent 5 million share purchase of IPSA for 25p per share) with the intention that both parties would benefit in the future. If IPSA has taken back control of ECCH as per announcement 09 Oct 2009 and presumably the subsequent coal reserves at Elitheni then how does this news today significantly impact future prospects for IPSA shareholders. Who are SNR and Atlantic Coal and will the news today affect the 25 year supply contract with IPSA Thanks |
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