Tonight:
5°c
Controversial explorer Regal Petroleum is today trying to tap investors for £60 million — the same day as it is hauled before a Stock Exchange disciplinary hearing over allegations of share ramping.
After plans to raise $100 million (£60.6 million) of debt with Macquarie Bank failed in the spring, Regal today instructed Merrill Lynch to raise a similar amount in a placing of shares to help fund its interests in the Ukraine.
However, the paperwork for the fundraising reveals the company will hear soon whether it is guilty of breaching the rules of lightly regulated AIM.
The allegations centre on claims by Regal and its colourful drug-convicted founder Frank Timis over drilling prospects in the Aegean Sea. When all Regal was found to have was a hole in the sea bed, Timis quit and the share price dived 90%. The alleged rule breaches concern the disclosure of material facts and the provision of price-sensitive information.
