San Leon, led by Oisin Fanning, has been facing challenges in its endeavour over the last year to amass the capital required to embark on a major oil drilling project in Nigeria. Julian Tedder, the Chief Financial Officer, has now departed the company, which could prove a significant blow to Fanning’s efforts to secure a crucial funding deal that has, thus far, remained elusive.
Given Tedder’s two decades of senior management role in the energy sector, including positions at IGas Energy and Tullow Oil, his exit couldn’t be more ill-timed. In an announcement to the Irish Independent, San Leon confirmed Tedder’s resignation whilst indicating a replacement has been appointed. However, the company has not disclosed who the new CFO is at this time, stating that shareholders will be informed in due course.
San Leon was previously featured on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM Market, frequently providing updates on its fund-raising pursuits to enable significant business transactions. These efforts included pursuing a stake in Energy Link Infrastructure (Malta), a company working on a pipeline project to an oil exploration venture in Nigeria named OML 18, which San Leon indirectly owns a stake in.
Repeated attempts to secure funding over the past year have been unsuccessful. The company declared a $187 million (€169 million) financial deal with a New York-based investment firm, Tri Ri Asset Management (Tram), in October 2023. However, this seems to have fallen through due to delayed funds. San Leon told markets that the money would be transferred by January 2024, but later revealed its disappointment that “no funds have been received by the company”.
As of March, the company was pondering two potential deals with prospective investors. It is in the closing terms of negotiation for one well-advanced deal, expecting financing before the end of that month.
In June, a fresh and seemingly diverse piece of information emerged. A deal had been struck between the company and an undisclosed financier, willing to render it as the “recipient of a €500 million bond from the German government”, which would function as collateral on a loan from another entity. The company appeared confident that these funds would be accessible promptly, declaring that they would have them by the end of the month.
However, complications arose with the stock exchange’s regulatory terms for submitting annual returns and quarterly fiscal reports, resulting in the suspension and subsequent cancellation of its listing.
As a consequence, the company is no longer mandated to divulge extensive information concerning its operations. Despite this, it has made a point to keep its investors informed about the state of funding. It is understood by Cantillon that the discussions are still in progress, although a representative of the company was unable to provide a comment when approached last week.
Shareholders of San Leon eagerly await more optimistic news in the near future.