Ivanhoe Energy announces sale of Pan-China Resources Ltd.
Corporate transaction supports strategy and bolsters balance
sheet
CALGARY, Nov. 21, 2012
/PRNewswire/ - Ivanhoe Energy Inc. (TSX: IE; NASDAQ: IVAN)
announced today that it has signed a Share Purchase and Sale
Agreement with MIE Holdings Corporation (MIE) for all of the
outstanding shares of its indirect, wholly owned subsidiary,
Pan-China Resources Ltd., in exchange for a cash consideration of
USD$45 million. Pan-China
Resources holds 100 per cent of the foreign contractor's rights for
the Dagang Production Sharing Contract.
MIE is publicly traded on the Hong Kong Stock
Exchange and specializes in oil and gas exploration, development
and production. The Company is headquartered in Hong Kong and has operations in China, the United
States and Kazakhstan.
The transaction has an effective date of
September 30, 2012 and is subject to
standard industry closing conditions, including a USD$5 million hold-back of the total
consideration that is payable six months from the closing
date. Anticipated closing will be within 30 days.
The divestiture of Pan-China Resources aligns
with the renewed strategy of Ivanhoe Energy. The Company continues
to execute a comprehensive plan to strengthen its balance sheet and
focus resources on its patented and proprietary Heavy to
Light Technology (HTL) and a core group of high-growth
potential heavy oil assets.
The Company's current priorities include divesting Zitong and
Pan-China Resources, securing regulatory approval for the Tamarack
project in Canada, establishing
partnerships to develop Tamarack and Block 20 in Ecuador and completing mid-stream partnerships
that support the commercialization of HTL.
Ivanhoe Energy is an independent international heavy oil
exploration and development company focused on pursuing long-term
growth in its reserves and production using advanced technologies,
including its proprietary heavy oil upgrading process
(HTLTM). Core operations are in Canada, United
States, Ecuador,
China and Mongolia, with business development
opportunities worldwide. Ivanhoe Energy trades on the Toronto Stock
Exchange with the ticker symbol IE and on the NASDAQ Capital Market
with the ticker symbol IVAN.
For more information about Ivanhoe Energy Inc.
please visit www.ivanhoeenergy.com.
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS: This document
includes forward-looking statements, including forward-looking
statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements include, but
are not limited to the potential for commercialization and future
application of the heavy oil upgrading technology and other
technologies, statements relating to the continued advancement of
Ivanhoe Energy's projects, statements relating to the timing and
amount of proceeds of agreed upon and contemplated disposition
transactions, statements relating to anticipated capital
expenditures, statements relating to the timing and success
of regulatory review applications, and other statements which are
not historical facts. When used in this document, the words such as
"could," "plan," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may,"
"potential," "should," and similar expressions relating to matters
that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements.
Although Ivanhoe Energy believes that its expectations reflected in
these forward-looking statements are reasonable, such statements
involve risks and uncertainties and no assurance can be given that
actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause actual results
to differ from these forward-looking statements include the
potential that the Company's projects will experience technological
and mechanical problems, new product development will not proceed
as planned, the HTLTM technology to upgrade bitumen and
heavy oil may not be commercially viable, geological conditions in
reservoirs may not result in commercial levels of oil and gas
production, the availability of drilling rigs and other support
services, uncertainties about the estimates of reserves, the risk
associated with doing business in foreign countries, environmental
risks, changes in product prices, our ability to raise capital as
and when required, our ability to complete agreed upon and planned
asset dispositions, competition and other risks disclosed in
Ivanhoe Energy's 2011 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on EDGAR and the Canadian
Securities Commissions on SEDAR.
SOURCE Ivanhoe Energy Inc.