Mar. 28, 2011 (Canada NewsWire Group) --
/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S. SECURITIES LAWS/
CALGARY, March 28 /CNW/ - Porto Energy Corp., ("Porto" or the "Company") (TSXV: PEC), a company focused on oil and gas exploration, appraisal and development in Portugal, announced today that it has completed its previously announced initial public offering ("IPO"). The IPO was made through a syndicate of agents co-led by Raymond James Ltd. and TD Securities Inc. and including FirstEnergy Capital Corp. and Haywood Securities Inc. (collectively, the "Agents"). In connection with the IPO, the Company issued 70,000,000 common shares at a price of $1.00 per share for gross proceeds of $70,000,000. The common shares were qualified for distribution pursuant to the final long form prospectus of the Company dated March 16, 2011, filed in each of the provinces of Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia.
In addition, the Company is pleased to announce that the common shares of the Company will commence trading today on the TSX Venture Exchange under the symbol "PEC".
The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the IPO to advance its appraisal, development and exploration drilling programs, acquire additional 3D seismic data, and for working capital and general corporate purposes
"With our initial public offering successfully completed, we have maximum flexibility to execute our exploration and development program across the multiple concessions held by Porto in Portugal," said Joseph Ash, President and CEO of Porto. "Our near-term focus will be on commercializing our Aljubarrota gas discovery and drilling exploration targets in our Jurassic reef trend identified by 3D seismic at the Torres Vedras-3 concession."
Important Notice to the Company's Pre-IPO Shareholders
Shareholders of the Company which acquired their common shares prior to the IPO may surrender their common share certificates, along with a duly executed letter of transmittal to the Company's transfer agent Olympia Trust Company ("Olympia") to obtain their new publically traded Porto common shares. Questions and requests for assistance may be directed to Olympia and additional copies of the letter of transmittal may be obtained at Porto's website at www.portoenergy.com/transferagent.html or from Olympia at:
| Olympia Trust Company | ||||||||
| 2300, 125 - 9th Avenue S.E. | ||||||||
| Calgary Alberta T2G 0P6 | ||||||||
| Attention: Corporate Actions Department | ||||||||
| Telephone: (403) 261-0900 | ||||||||
| Fax: (403) 265-1455 | ||||||||
| Web Site: www.olympiatrust.com | ||||||||
| Email: cssinquiries@olympiatrust.com |
This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of, any securities of the Company in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The securities offered hereunder have not and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act"), or the securities laws of any state of the United States of America (the "United States") and, subject to certain exceptions, may not be offered or sold within the United States or its territories or possessions except in transactions exempt from registration under the U.S. Securities Act and under the securities laws of any applicable state. This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy any of the securities offered hereby within the United States, its territories or possessions.
About Porto Energy Corp.
Porto Energy Corp. is an international oil and gas company engaged in the exploration of crude oil and natural gas including the appraisal of a gas discovery in Portugal. Through its wholly owned subsidiary, Mohave Oil And Gas Corporation (a Texas corporation with branch offices in Portugal), the Company holds working interests in five concessions in Portugal's Lusitanian Basin totalling 1,444,152 net acres or 5,844 km2. Through its exploration efforts to date, the Company has identified seven major exploration trends over its concessions and generated more than 45 prospects and leads.
Forward-Looking Information
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future performance. All statements other than statements of historical fact are forward-looking statements. The use of any of the words "anticipate", "plan", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may", "will", "project", "should", "believe", "predict" and "potential" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, those listed under the headings "Notice to Investors - Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" in the Company's final prospectus dated March 16, 2011 relating to the IPO. No assurance can be given that these expectations will prove to be correct and such forward-looking statements should not be unduly relied upon. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this press release and the Company does not undertake to update any forward-looking statements that are contained in this press release, except in accordance with applicable securities laws.
Heath Cleaver - Chief Financial Officer
Phone: 1-713-975-1725