Austral Pacific Announces Strategic Alternatives Review

Austral Pacific Energy Ltd. today announced that it has decided to initiate a strategic alternatives review of its business.

Austral CEO and President Thompson Jewell said, “In light of the low share price, Austral Pacific has initiated a strategic review to consider all options available to the company to maximise value for its shareholders”.

In conjunction with the strategic review, Austral Pacific has appointed Australasian investment banking firm McDouall Stuart as the company’s Financial Advisor.

The strategic review will be comprehensive, and will consider new capital investments as well as third-party approaches for asset sales and/or merger proposals.

No decision on any particular alternative has been reached at this time and there can be no assurance that the process will result in any change in the Company’s current plans to seek additional capital in order to refinance its existing credit facility or that the Company will pursue any particular transaction.

Austral does not intend to make any further announcement regarding the process unless and until its board of directors has approved a specific transaction or other course of action or otherwise deems disclosure of developments is appropriate.

Austral Pacific is a listed independent oil and gas exploration and production company registered in Canada with corporate headquarters in Wellington, New Zealand. The Company has an interest in eight exploration and production permits totaling over 0.5 million acres in New Zealand. The Company’s primary assets are the Cheal Field, Kahili Field and Cardiff Field located onshore in the highly prolific Taranaki Basin on the North Island of New Zealand.
Web site: http://www.austral-pacific.com