SeaEnergy PLC Administration and Resignation of Nomad and Broker (1291A)

TIDMSEA

RNS Number : 1291A

SeaEnergy PLC

03 June 2016

SeaEnergy PLC (in administration)

Administration and Resignation of Nominated Adviser and Broker

Blair Nimmo, Geoff Jacobs and Tony Friar of KPMG LLP were appointed as Joint Administrators of SeaEnergy plc ("SeaEnergy" or the "Company") on 2 June 2016 at the request of the Company's directors.

SeaEnergy is the holding company of the SeaEnergy group of entities (the "Group"). The two principal trading entities are Return to Scene Limited ("R2S") and SE Innovation Limited ("SEIL"). R2S and SEIL provide visual asset management software ("VAMS") services and packages to a variety of sectors. R2S holds the intellectual property which supports the VAMS, which is the key asset of the Group.

SeaEnergy also owns 100% of the share capital in Eagle H C Limited, which holds two UK royalty interests in respect of oil and gas exploration fields, and 100% of the share capital in SeaEnergy Hibernia Limited, which holds 18.7% (approximately 30 million shares) of Lansdowne Oil & Gas plc ("Lansdowne"). Trading in the shares of Lansdowne is currently suspended.

SeaEnergy began to experience cash flow challenges in late 2015, due to the ongoing oil price decline adversely impacting R2S activity levels. As seen throughout the industry, client orders were cancelled or postponed, and the number of new business enquiries reduced significantly.

In response to these challenges, the SeaEnergy directors secured additional funding in November 2015 via a GBP1 million working capital loan. In early 2016, trading conditions began to deteriorate even further.

On 4 March 2016, SeaEnergy announced that it was facing significant cash flow difficulties and would need to consider a sale of its main assets, or the Group businesses would be unable to continue trading beyond May 2016. In March 2016, the directors began a targeted marketing exercise for the sale of the whole or part of the Group. No viable offers were received at that time.

On 26 April 2016, trading in the shares of SeaEnergy were suspended, pending clarification of its financial position.

KPMG were appointed to run an accelerated sales process on 28 April 2016. A preferred bidder was selected by the Group on 13 May 2016.

Prior to the appointment of the Joint Administrators, the business, assets and 10 employees of SEIL (including the Return to Scene forensic, and Max & Co businesses) were sold to R2S by the SEIL directors, and seven employees of SeaEnergy were transferred to R2S. Immediately following the appointment, the shares of R2S were acquired by James Fisher Holdings UK Limited. All 33 employees of R2S (including the employees transferred from SEIL and SeaEnergy) were transferred as part of the transaction. With the exception of one individual, all employees are based in Aberdeen.

Of the remaining seven SeaEnergy employees, three have been made redundant immediately following the appointment and four have been retained to assist the Joint Administrators.

Blair Nimmo, Joint Administrator and UK Head of Restructuring for KPMG, said:

"We are pleased to have concluded the sale of R2S to James Fisher, which will safeguard the majority of jobs within the Group, maintain customer service, and provide the best outcome for SeaEnergy's creditors. Based on the information available at present, it is unlikely there will be any recovery for the shareholders.

"We are now focused on realising the remaining assets and investments held by SeaEnergy, and would encourage any party with an interest in acquiring all, or parts, of these investments to make contact with us as soon as possible."

Resignation of Nominated Adviser and Broker

WH Ireland Limited has today resigned as nominated adviser and broker to SeaEnergy with immediate effect. If SeaEnergy fails to appoint a replacement nominated adviser within one month from today, the admission of its AIM securities will be cancelled.

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About KPMG:

KPMG LLP, a UK limited liability partnership, operates from 22 offices across the UK with approximately 12,000 partners and staff. The UK firm recorded a turnover of GBP1.9 billion in the year ended September 2014. KPMG is a global network of professional firms providing Audit, Tax, and Advisory services. It operates in 155 countries and has 162,000 professionals working in member firms around the world. The independent member firms of the KPMG network are affiliated with KPMG International Cooperative ("KPMG International"), a Swiss entity. Each KPMG firm is a legally distinct and separate entity and describes itself as such.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

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June 03, 2016 02:26 ET (06:26 GMT)