Rex International Holding Limited, an independent oil exploration firm, launched an initial public offering (IPO) on the Catalist Board of the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited to raise up to $67.7 million (SGD 85.25 million).
The public offer consists of 2.5 million shares at $0.40 (SGD 0.50) each and including over-allotment, Rex is expected to place out 168 million shares at $0.40 (SGD 0.50 each) for its proposed listing on the Catalist Board. The IPO will open at 12.00 noon July 22 and close at 12.00 noon July 29.
“We have received strong institutional support for Rex International Holding,” Mark Liew, managing director, Corporate Finance of PrimePartners Corporate Finance Pte. Ltd., which is the manager, sponsor, and co-placement agent of the IPO said in a press release.
Rex has an active drilling and portfolio growth program for the next 24 months. The firm recently commenced 80-well onshore drilling in the United States and plans to drill two offshore wells in its Oman concession in late 2013 as well as the first well in each of its other two offshore concessions in the Middle East in 2014.
In Norway, the company plans to grow its licence portfolio as well as drill three to five new offshore exploration wells. Rex is now actively screening opportunities in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand and expects to secure five to six licenses in Asia Pacific.
The company plans to use the majority of its net proceeds for active drilling programs in the Middle East and Norway; direct investments into new oil and gas opportunities; and general working capital. Rex is debt free except for a $1.9 million (SGD 2.4 million) loan from a controlling shareholder of the firm, which will be fully repaid using the IPO proceeds.
Rex has developed its proprietary and innovative oil exploration technologies, including Rex Virtual Drilling technology, which it claims is the world’s first tool to visualize hydrocarbons in the subsurface. This technology allows the firm to locate onshore and offshore oil reservoirs through advanced data analysis of conventional seismic data. Rex said the potential accuracy of Rex Technologies could push its oil discovery success rate to over 50 percent, compared to the estimated worldwide industry average of 10-15 percent.
“The oil and gas industry is traditionally characterized by high risk and high return. But we see that with Rex Technologies, we can change the risk-reward trade-off in oil exploration to one which is of a lower risk while maintaining high return. We have finally been able to solve what the oil industry has been looking for all these years - the ability to actually see the oil in the ground,” Måns Lidgren, CEO of Rex International Holding said in the press release.
