NOT
FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION TO ANY U.S. PERSON (AS DEFINED BELOW) OR
IN OR INTO THE UNITED
STATES OR TO ANY PERSON LOCATED OR
RESIDENT IN THE UNITED
STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION
WHERE IT IS UNLAWFUL TO DISTRIBUTE THIS DOCUMENT.
April 22, 2024
ZENITH
ENERGY LTD.
("Zenith" or the
"Company")
New Bond
Exchange Offer
Zenith Energy Ltd. ("Zenith" or the
"Company") (LSE: ZEN; OSE: ZENA; OTCQB:
ZENAF), the listed international energy production and
development company, is pleased to announce the launching of a new
Bond Exchange Offer on revised terms (the "Exchange") following the successful
conclusion of the first Bond Exchange Offer, as publicly announced
on April 11, 2024.
The Exchange is directed to the
remaining noteholders (the "Noteholders") of the following
unsecured debt instruments that matured on January 27,
2024 (collectively, the "Outstanding Notes"):
·
Euro 10.125% Notes due on 27 January
2024 (XS2108546735)
·
USD 10.300% Notes due on 27 January
2024 (XS2108546651)
·
GBP 10.375% Notes due on 27 January
2024 (XS2108546578)
to offer to exchange (the
"Exchange Offer") such
Outstanding Notes into the following new notes issued by the
Company (the "New
Notes"):
· Euro 14.625% Notes
due on 21 May 2026 (the "New EUR
Notes")
· USD 14.800% Notes
due on 21 May 2026 (the "New USD
Notes")
· GBP 14.875% Notes
due on 21 May 2026 (the "New GBP
Notes")
Further details on the Exchange Offer and the New
Notes
The Exchange Offer is subject to the
offer and distribution restrictions set out below.
The Exchange Offer will be open to
Noteholders until 17:00 CET on May 14, 2024.
Settlement of the Exchange Offer is
expected to take place on or before May 24, 2024.
The Exchange has been launched
following confirmation that a significant number of Noteholders
were unable to participate in the first Bond Exchange Offer,
announced on January 25, 2024, due to difficulties being faced by
their chosen investment platform at the time, and the deadline for
completion of that Bond Exchange Offer having subsequently
elapsed.
The Noteholders, by way of the
Exchange Offer, are given the opportunity to exchange the
Outstanding Notes for New notes issued by the Company on revised
terms in respect of the Bond Exchange first announced on January
25, 2024.
Zenith has again appointed The Bank
of New York Mellon ("BNYM")
as Exchange Agent to coordinate the distribution of the Exchange,
specifically to liaise with the clearing systems and manage the
implementation of the Exchange.
Before making a decision on whether
to exchange Existing Notes for New Notes, Noteholders should
carefully consider all of the information contained in, and
incorporated by reference into, the EMTN Base Prospectus dated 16
March 2023, as supplemented from time to time if necessary. They
should seek advice from any tax, accounting, financial and legal
advisers they may deem necessary. The EMTN Base Prospectus and its
supplements are available on the website of Zenith
(https://www.zenithenergy.ca/investors/bonds-credit-ratings/)
Noteholders are advised to check
with any bank, securities broker, or other intermediary through
which they hold Existing Notes when such intermediary would need to
receive instructions from a Noteholder in order for that Noteholder
to be able to participate in, or (in the limited circumstances in
which revocation is permitted) revoke their instruction to
participate in, the Exchange Offer before the deadlines specified
above.
The technical instructions to
participate in the Exchange Offer can be found within the Exchange
Offer Document which can be obtained from the contacts listed
below.
Zenith Energy
Ltd
Andrea Cattaneo, Chief Executive
Officer
Luca Benedetto, Chief Financial
Officer
|
Tel: +1 (587) 315 1279
E: info@zenithenergy.ca
|
The Company is fully available to
answer any questions and requests for assistance in connection with
the Exchange Offer.
DISCLAIMER
Each Noteholder is solely
responsible for making its own independent appraisal of all matters
as such Noteholder deems appropriate (including those relating to
the Exchange, the New Notes and the Company, the relevant Existing
Notes) and each Noteholder must make its own decision, based upon
its own judgement and having obtained advice from such financial,
accounting, legal and tax advisers as it may deem necessary, as to
whether to offer any or all of its Existing Notes for exchange
pursuant to the Exchange.
Before deciding on whether accept
the Exchange, Noteholders should carefully consider all of the
information contained in, and incorporated by reference into, the
EMTN Base Prospectus dated 16 March 2023, as supplemented from
time to time if necessary. They should seek advice from any tax,
accounting, financial and legal advisers they may deem necessary.
The EMTN Base Prospectus and its supplements are available on the
website of the Company.
Neither the Company or its
respective directors, employees or affiliates makes any
recommendation as to whether holders of Existing Notes should offer
any Existing Notes for exchange pursuant to the terms of Exchange
or refrain from doing so, and no one has been authorised by any of
them to make any such recommendation.
This announcement contains important
information which should be read carefully before any decision is
made with respect to the Exchange. If any Noteholder is in any
doubt as to the contents of this announcement or the action it
should take, it is recommended to seek its own financial and legal
advice, including in respect of any tax consequences, immediately
from its stockbroker, bank manager, solicitor, accountant or other
independent financial, tax or legal adviser.
Offer and Distribution Restrictions
This announcement does not
constitute an invitation to participate in the Exchange in any
jurisdiction in which, or to any person to or from whom, it is
unlawful to make such invitation or for there to be such
participation under applicable securities laws and regulations. The
distribution of this announcement in certain jurisdictions may be
restricted by law. Persons into whose possession either this
announcement comes are required by the Company to inform themselves
about, and to observe, any such restrictions.
No action has been or will be taken
in any jurisdiction by the Company in relation to the Exchange that
would permit a public offering of securities. The Exchange has been
prepared on the basis that the Exchange in any Member State of the
European Economic Area which has implemented the Prospectus
Directive (each, a "Relevant
Member State"), will be made pursuant to an exemption under
the Prospectus Directive, as implemented in that Relevant Member
State, from the requirement to publish a prospectus for any offer
of securities.
United States
Each Exchange is not being made and
will not be made, directly or indirectly, in or into, or by use of
the mail of, or by any means or instrumentality of interstate or
foreign commerce of, or of any facilities of a national securities
exchange of, the United States. This includes, but is not
limited to, facsimile transmission, electronic mail, telex,
telephone, and the internet. The Existing Notes may not be offered
in the Exchange by any such use, means, instrumentality or facility
from or within the United States or by persons located or
resident in the United States as defined in Regulation S
of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the
"Securities Act") or
to U.S. persons as defined in Regulation S of the
Securities Act (each a "U.S. Person"). Accordingly, copies
of this announcement and any other documents or materials relating
to each Exchange are not being, and must not be, directly or
indirectly, mailed or otherwise transmitted, distributed, or
forwarded (including, without limitation, by custodians, nominees,
or trustees) in or into the United
States or U.S. Persons. Any purported offer of
Existing Notes for exchange resulting directly or indirectly from a
violation of these restrictions will be invalid and any purported
offer of Existing Notes for exchange made by a person located
in the United States or any agent, fiduciary or other
intermediary acting on a non-discretionary basis for a principal
giving instructions from within the United States will be
invalid and will not be accepted.
This announcement is not an offer of
securities for sale in the United States or
to U.S. Persons. The Existing Notes and the New Notes may
not be offered or sold in the United States absent
registration under, or an exemption from the registration
requirements of, the Securities Act. The New Notes and the Existing
Notes have not been, and will not be, registered under the
Securities Act or the securities laws of any state or other
jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered,
sold or delivered, directly or indirectly, in the United
States or to, or for the account or benefit
of, U.S. Persons. The purpose of this announcement may
not be sent or given to a person in the United States or
otherwise to any person other than in an offshore transaction in
accordance with Regulation S under the Securities Act.
Each Noteholder participating in the
Exchange will represent that it is not a U.S. Person, and
it is not located in the United States and is not
participating in the Exchange from the United States or
it is acting on a non-discretionary basis for a principal located
outside the United States that is not giving an order to
participate in the Exchange from the United States.
"United States"
means the United States of America, its territories and
possessions, any state of the United States of
America and the District of Columbia.
United Kingdom
The communication by the Company of
this announcement and any other documents or materials relating to
the Exchange is not being made, and such documents and/or materials
have not been approved, by an authorised person for the purposes of
section 21 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (the
"FSMA"). Accordingly, such
documents and/or materials are not being distributed to, and must
not be passed on to, the general public in the United Kingdom.
The communication of such documents and/or materials is exempt from
the restriction on financial promotions under section 21 of the
FSMA on the basis that it is only directed at and may be
communicated to (1) those persons in the United
Kingdom falling within the definition of investment
professionals (as defined in Article 19(5) of the Financial
Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) Order 2005 (the
"Order") or those persons
who are existing members or creditors of the Company within Article
43 of the Order, and (2) to any other persons to whom these
documents and/or materials may lawfully be communicated.
France
Each Exchange is not being made,
directly or indirectly, to the public in France. Neither this
announcement nor any other documents or offering materials relating
to the Exchange have been or shall be distributed to the public
in Franceand only (i) providers of investment services
relating to portfolio management for the account of third parties
(personnes fournissant le service
d'investissement de gestion de portefeuille pour compte de
tiers) and/or (ii) qualified investors (investisseurs qualifiés) acting for
their own account, all as defined in, and in accordance with,
Articles L.411-1, L.411-2 and D.411-1 of the
French Code Monétaire et
Financier, are eligible to participate in the Exchange. This
announcement has not been and will not be submitted for clearance
procedures (visa) of
the Autorité des marchés
financiers.
Italy
None of this announcement or any
other documents or materials relating to each Exchange, or the New
Notes have been or will be submitted to the clearance procedure of
the Commissione Nazionale
per le Società e la Borsa ("CONSOB") pursuant to Italian laws and
regulations.
Each Exchange is being carried out
in the Republic of Italy as an exempted offer pursuant to
article 101-bis, paragraph 3-bis of the Legislative Decree No. 58
of 24 February 1998, as amended (the "Financial Services Act") and article
35-bis, paragraph 4, of CONSOB Regulation No. 11971 of 14 May
1999, as amended (the "CONSOB
Regulation"). The Exchange is also being carried out in
compliance with article 35-bis, paragraph 7 of the CONSOB
Regulation.
Noteholders located in
the Republic of Italy or beneficial owners of the
Existing Notes can offer to exchange the Existing Notes pursuant to
the Exchange through authorised persons (such as investment firms,
banks or financial intermediaries permitted to conduct such
activities in the Republic of Italy in accordance with
the Financial Services Act, CONSOB Regulation No. 20307 of 15
February 2018, as amended from time to time, and Legislative Decree
No. 385 of September 1, 1993, as amended) and in compliance
with applicable laws and regulations or with requirements imposed
by CONSOB or any other Italian authority.
Each intermediary must comply with
the applicable laws and regulations concerning information
duties vis-à-vis its clients in
connection with the Existing Notes, the New Notes, or the
Exchange.
General
Neither this announcement nor the
electronic transmission thereof constitutes an offer to buy the New
Notes or the solicitation of an offer to sell the Existing Notes
and/or the New Notes and offers for the exchange of Existing Notes
for New Notes pursuant to the Exchange will not be accepted from
Noteholders in any circumstances in which such offer or
solicitation is unlawful. In those jurisdictions where the
securities laws, blue sky laws or other laws require an exchange to
be made by a licensed broker or dealer or any of their respective
affiliates is such a licensed broker or dealer or similar in any
such jurisdiction, the Exchange shall be deemed to be made in such
jurisdictions by such affiliate, as the case may be, on behalf of
the Company in such jurisdiction.
No action has been or will be taken
in any jurisdiction by the Company that would permit a public
offering of the New Notes.
In addition to the representations
referred to above in respect of the United States, each
Noteholder participating in the Exchange will also be deemed to
give certain representations in respect of the other jurisdictions
referred to above. A Noteholder who is unable to make these
representations will not be accepted for the purposes of the
Exchange.
The Company reserves the right, at
its sole and absolute discretion, to investigate, in relation to
any offer of Existing Notes for exchange pursuant to the Exchange
whether any such representation given by a Noteholder is correct
and, if such investigation is undertaken and, as a result, the
Company determines (for any reason) that such representation is not
correct, such offer may be rejected.
Notes to Editors:
Zenith Energy Ltd. is a revenue
generating, independent energy company with energy production,
exploration and development assets in North Africa, the US
and Europe. The Company is listed on the London Stock Exchange
Main Market (LSE: ZEN), the Euronext Growth of
the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE: ZENA) and
the Venture Market of the OTCQB
(OTCQB: ZENAF).
Zenith's strategic focus is on
pursuing development opportunities through the development of
proven revenue generating energy production assets, as well as
low-risk exploration activities in assets with existing
production.
For more information, please
visit: www.zenithenergy.ca
Twitter: @zenithenergyltd
LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/3A5PRJb