Rockhopper receives first funds from Ombrina Mare arbitration

Rockhopper Exploration announced the receipt of the first tranche of funds from the monetisation of its Ombrina Mare arbitration award on Friday.

The AIM-traded company said it had received €19m out of the €45m tranche one payment, following the satisfaction of all conditions for the transaction, as announced on 17 June.

It said the remaining €26m of the tranche had been allocated to the original arbitration funder, discharging Rockhopper from all liabilities under the litigation funding agreement established in 2017.

Under that agreement, the original funder covered all costs related to the arbitration process from its commencement to the rendering of the award, in exchange for a proportion of any proceeds from the award or its monetisation.

Future payments from tranches two and three remained contingent on a successful annulment outcome.

Additionally, Rockhopper disclosed that around €4m in success fees would be owed to its legal representatives if Italy was required to pay more than €25m in damages.

Following receipt of the payment, Rockhopper said its cash balance now stood at $27m.

“We are delighted to have received the tranche one payment under the Ombrina Mare monetisation agreement,” said chief executive officer Samuel Moody.

“This cash gives us the strongest balance sheet we have had for a number of years, and we remain confident in the merits of our legal case as we await the decision of the Ad Hoc Panel on the annulment request from the Italian Republic.”

At 1215 BST, shares in Rockhopper Exploration were down 1.54% at 14.72p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.