TORONTO, ONTARIO — (Marketwired) — 04/26/13 — Acadian Energy Inc. (TSX VENTURE: ACX) — (the “Corporation” or “Acadian”) announced today that two of its directors and majority shareholders have agreed to convert $1,495,000 of indebtedness into Restricted Voting Common shares in the capital of the Corporation and to grant an option to purchase a portion of the Restricted Voting Common shares that they own to third parties. The debt conversion and grant of the options is subject to regulatory approval including approval by the TSX Venture Exchange.
As announced April 9, 2013, the Board of Directors is diligently pursuing new opportunities for Acadian in light of its current low cash balance. These moves will eliminate the largest element of debt on the Corporation–s balance sheet in order to make it more attractive for new ventures.
The indebtedness is held by John McDevitt and Gilbert Smith or parties controlled by them. The conversion is to be at a rate of $1.00 per share which would result in an additional 1,495,000 Restricted Voting Common shares being issued. There are currently 2,505,748 Voting Common shares and 3,539,157 Restricted Voting Common shares issued and outstanding.
The option to purchase is for 1,850,000 Restricted Voting Common shares. It is in favour of three directors, Mark Lawrence (Interim CEO), Andrew Wilkes and Kevin Stulp and an officer, Timothy C. Williams (CFO). The option price is $0.015 per share and the exercise period is a term of 5 years.
Also as announced on April 9, 2013, the Corporation has over the past year and a half, moved away from pursuing its initial New Albany Shale natural gas opportunities as a result of the dramatic decline in pricing and attendant lack of funding to pursue drilling activities. Since then, the Corporation has examined a number of oil exploration opportunities, with joint ventures that would need various levels of funding to develop. A lack of support in the junior oil exploration market has not produced a financeable opportunity.
The Board has thus recently been pursuing reverse takeover transactions with other corporations in similar and different business sectors who can make use of the Corporation–s unique capital structure that generally enables US private company shares to be swapped with Canadian listed shares on a tax free rollover basis. This makes Acadian particularly amenable for those companies with US operations and who would benefit from listing their shares on a Canadian exchange. In addition, the Corporation is not required to currently report to the SEC. However, the Corporation is able to examine possible transactions based globally.
There can be no assurance that a suitable transaction will be found that meets all of our criteria.
Additional Corporation information is also obtainable on the Corporation–s web site .
About Acadian:
Acadian is a junior exploration and production company which is focused on the exploration and development of New Albany shale oil and natural gas in the Illinois Basin. The Corporation continues exploration development of the oil potential of the New Albany Shale. Acadian trades on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol ACX.
This communication to shareholders and the public contains certain forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by such statements. All statements, other than statements of historical fact, included herein, including, without limitations statements regarding future production, are forward-looking statements that involve various risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate and actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
The TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
Contacts:
Acadian Energy Inc.
Mark Lawrence
Interim CEO
281-751-7720