Rex raises stake in Norwegian unit to 98.8%

REX International now controls a 98.77 per cent stake in Lime Petroleum Norway, up from 74.16 per cent, following a restructuring of the subsidiary's capital, Rex announced on Monday before the market opened.

Lime Petroleum underwent a capital restructuring that cut its share capital to 80.32 million Norwegian krone (S$13.1 million) from 382 million krone by accounting for 30.9 million krone of uncovered losses and transferring 270.8 million krone to other equity. As part of the restructuring, 900,000 Lime Petroleum shares that were held by Rex were cancelled, and 77.4 million krone was repaid to Rex then subsequently fully reinvested back into Lime Petroleum for new shares.

Rex said the restructuring gave the company an even larger stake in Lime Petroleum's Norwegian assets. Lime Petroleum has interests in 19 licences in the Norwegian continental shelf and has plans to drill at least three more wells in 2015 and 2016, Rex said.

Rex shares last traded at 8.7 Singapore cents on Friday.