Sound Energy share premium account cancellation gets the High Court nod

The AIM-traded firm had initially described the cancellation in its announcement of the terms of the disposal of its Italian portfolio on 22 January.

It said the court order approving the reduction of capital was registered with the Registrar of Companies on 13 March, and as a result the reduction of capital had now become effective.

The reduction created distributable reserves of approximately £277.7m for Sound Energy, and would enable shareholders on the register at 1800 BST on the repayment record date of 3 April to receive an aggregate of 185,907,500 new ordinary shares in the share capital of Saffron Energy - to be renamed Coro Energy - in connection with the disposal.

The consideration shares would be issued directly to the eligible Sound Energy shareholders on completion of the disposal.

“The issuance of the Coro consideration shares to the Sound Energy shareholders will constitute an indirect repayment of capital by Sound Energy to shareholders,” the board explained in its statement.

“The reduction of capital is a legal and accounting adjustment and is not expected to have any direct impact on the market value of the ordinary shares in the capital of Sound Energy.”