By Angela Macdonald-Smith
March 9 (Bloomberg) -- Nexus Energy Ltd., developer of the Crux condensates project off northern Australia, halted its shares from trading in Sydney as it considers asset sale proposals and a possible debt raising.
The shares will be halted until the start of trading on March 11 or the release of an announcement on the decision, whichever is earlier, the Melbourne-based company said today in a regulatory filing sent to the Australian stock exchange.
Nexus hired Deutsche Bank AG in October to manage a formal process for the sale of a stake in Crux after Mitsui & Co. scrapped a plan to buy an interest for $255 million. In November it widened the process to consider corporate offers and said last month the procedure was being delayed by the global economic crisis.
Nexus and partner Osaka Gas Co. are unable to give the go- ahead to build the Crux project until the sale goes ahead, helping finance the venture. The project, due to start production in the first half of 2011, will cost between $650 million and $700 million to develop, based on the use of a leased production vessel, Nexus estimated last year.
Nexus, which has plunged 73 percent in the past six months in Sydney trading, closed at 38 cents on March 6, giving the company a market value of about A$245 million ($158 million). Condensate is a type of light oil produced in association with natural gas.
To contact the reporter on this story: Angela Macdonald-Smith in Sydney at amacdonaldsm@bloomberg.net
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