Octant said it expects to close the acquisition of the blocks from London-headquartered Afren plc by April 30. The giant explorer in October 2015 entered into three agreements with subsidiaries of the debt-laden Afren to acquire Blocks L17/L18 in Lamu, Block 1 in Mandera-Lugh basin and another block in Tanga, Tanzania. The funds will be in three tranches of $1 million (Sh1.03 billion) for Tanga assets, and $4.5 million each for Lamu and Mandera blocks. Octant, however, refused to reassure investors that the financing for the two tranches for proposed acquisition of Lamu and Mandera blocks will be completed. Afren fully owns blocks L17 and L18, while its stake in Mandera and Tanga blocks stands at 80 per cent and 74 per cent, respectively.

Source: The Star April 11, 2017 05:37 UTC