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Mail on Sunday - 11 Dec 2005
A gas storage company that uses technology that could ease future supply problems will list on the Alternative Investment Market tomorrow, writes Simon Fluendy.
Independent Resources has completed a £5 million placing and will list 34 million shares on AIM at 60p each, valuing the firm at £20 million.
It has an underground limestone storage site in Italy that has the capacity to store huge amounts of gas.
Rival companies use sandstone caverns to store gas, but it has to be extracted slowly, otherwise sand can be sucked up, which can damage equipment. Independent has developed pumping technology and the geological know-how to use cracks in harder limestone deposits instead, providing quicker access to the gas in times of short supply.
In future, the company might use limestone deposits in the UK as storage sites.
Financial Times - 12 Dec 2005
Gas fears spur Aim listing
Independent Resources hopes to exploit concerns over the supply of natural gas across Europe with a flotation aimed at raising funds to develop a gas storage facility near the Italian city of Bologna.
The company, which lists on Aim today, plans to use a naturally occurring limestone aquifer at Rivara in northern Italy to help overcome winter shortages. Grayson Nash, executive chairman, said the development of the Rivara facility would be welcomed in Italy, where bottlenecks in gas supply last winter culminated in a crisis during a late cold spell in March. The company will look for a commercial partner for the project and is in talks with a big European utility group.
Businesses in the UK have warned of possible interruptions in gas supplies this winter if a cold snap and limited storage facilities causes demand to outstrip supply for a long period.
Mr Nash said extracting gas quickly from other storage sites in winter months could become more difficult because, as gas reserves were depleted, "the pressure that you would be able to draw at the beginning of the season is just not there".
However, Independent's planned facilities at Rivara would overcome this problem because a giant aquifer would support high pressure during the winter, allowing rapid injection and extraction of gas to match seasonal demand.
Independent will raise £5.1m from a placing of 25.5 per cent of the company's shares, priced at 60p. The initial public offering values the company at £20m. Hichens, Harrison & Co are advisers to the flotation.
Mr Nash and two other directors held a combined total of 67.5 per cent of the company before the flotation, after which their combined stake will fall to 45 per cent.
Independent also has exclusive rights to the Fiume Bruna coal bed methane permit in Tuscany.