i3 Energy PLC Announces ISS and Glass Lewis Recommendations

ISS and Glass Lewis Recommend i3 Energy Shareholders Vote FOR the Proposed Transaction with Gran Tierra Energy, Inc

EASTLEIGH, UK / ACCESSWIRE / September 24, 2024 / I3 Energy is pleased to note that the two most influential independent proxy advisors, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), and Glass Lewis & Co. (Glass Lewis), have both recommended that shareholders vote FOR the proposed acquisition of i3 Energy by Gran Tierra Energy, Inc ("Gran Tierra") at the upcoming Court Meeting and General Meeting on 7 October.

The Board of i3 Energy also reiterates its unanimous recommendation for shareholders to vote in favour of the proposed acquisition for the following reasons:

1. Gran Tierra's offer represents a premium of 49% to the closing price on the 16th of August 2024, the day before the offer was announced and a premium of 49.7% to the 30-day volume weighted average price, ending the 16th of August 2024.

2. The offer value compares favourably to comparable company valuations and transactions across a range of metrics.

3. The offer represents the highest share price of the Company since October 2023

4. The cash payment accelerates returns and is equivalent to over 10 years of dividends at the current quarterly dividend payment.

5. i3 Energy shareholders will own up to 16.5% of the pro-forma Gran Tierra company, which brings increased scale and financial capacity to extract value from i3 Energy's Canadian undeveloped resource base; particularly, its key Simonette Montney asset - Gran Tierra's financial resources are expected to be deployed to accelerate its development and i3 shareholders will benefit from this through their ongoing shareholding in the Combined Group.

6. Beyond the development of key assets in i3's portfolio, i3's shareholders will gain exposure to Gran Tierra's diverse portfolio of 100% owned and operated oil weighted production and development assets and a large inventory of exploration prospects. The pro-forma company will be able to allocate capital to the most profitable projects from a much larger opportunity set. The growth potential and optionality in the pro-forma business will be considerably greater than in i3 Energy as a standalone entity. Gran Tierra is an active operator and has many projects that if successful, will deliver incremental near-term production and cashflows.

7. The transaction will combine two high quality teams with a strong track record of success in the jurisdictions in which they operate. We believe the combination will result in enhanced performance across the business units and generate beneficial operational and cost synergies.

Details of the General Meeting:
The Scheme requires approval at the Court Meeting and at the i3 Energy General Meeting.

The Court Meeting and the i3 Energy General Meeting will be held at APCO, Floor 5, 40 Strand, London, WC2N 5RW on 7 October 2024 at 1.00 p.m. and 1.15 p.m., respectively (or, in the case of the i3 Energy General Meeting, if later, as soon thereafter as the Court Meeting has been concluded or adjourned).

Information on how to vote is detailed in the Scheme Document, found on i3's website: https://i3.energy/grantierra-offer/

Unless otherwise defined, all capitalised terms in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the Scheme Document. All references to times are to London, UK, times unless otherwise stated.

END

Enquiries:

Notices relating to financial advisers:

Zeus Capital Limited ("Zeus"), which is authorised and regulated by the FCA in the United Kingdom, is acting exclusively for i3 Energy as financial adviser, nominated adviser and joint broker and no one else in connection with the matters referred to in this Announcement and will not be responsible to anyone other than i3 Energy for providing the protections afforded to clients of Zeus, or for providing advice in relation to matters referred to in this Announcement. Neither Zeus nor any of its affiliates owes or accepts any duty, liability or responsibility whatsoever (whether direct or indirect, whether in contract, in tort, under statute or otherwise) to any person who is not a client of Zeus in connection with the matters referred to in this Announcement, any statement contained herein or otherwise.

Additional Information

This announcement is for information purposes only. It is not intended to, and does not, constitute or form part of any offer, invitation or the solicitation of an offer to purchase, otherwise acquire, subscribe for, sell or otherwise dispose of, any securities in any jurisdiction, pursuant to this announcement or otherwise. The distribution of this announcement in jurisdictions other than the United Kingdom may be affected by the laws of relevant jurisdictions. Therefore, any persons who are subject to the laws of any jurisdiction other than the United Kingdom or shareholders of i3 Energy who are not resident in the United Kingdom will need to inform themselves about, and observe any applicable requirements. Any failure to comply with the restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.

This announcement has been prepared in accordance with the laws of England and Wales, the Code, the AIM Rules for Companies and the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules and the information disclosed may not be the same as that which would have been prepared in accordance with the laws of jurisdictions outside England and Wales.

Responsibility:

The person responsible for arranging the release of this announcement on behalf of i3 Energy is Majid Shafiq, Chief Executive Officer.

Dealing and Opening Position Disclosure Requirements

Under Rule 8.3(a) of the Takeover Code, any person who is interested in one per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of an offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror (being any offeror other than an offeror in respect of which it has been announced that its offer is, or is likely to be, solely in cash) must make an Opening Position Disclosure following the commencement of the Offer Period and, if later, following the Announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified.

An Opening Position Disclosure must contain details of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s). An Opening Position Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(a) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 p.m. (London time) on the 10th Business Day following the commencement of the Offer Period and, if appropriate, by no later than 3.30 p.m. (London time) on the 10th Business Day following the Announcement in which any securities exchange offeror is first identified. Relevant persons who deal in the relevant securities of the offeree company or of a securities exchange offeror prior to the deadline for making an Opening Position Disclosure must instead make a Dealing Disclosure.

Under Rule 8.3(b) of the Takeover Code, any person who is, or becomes, interested in one per cent. or more of any class of relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror must make a Dealing Disclosure if the person deals in any relevant securities of the offeree company or of any securities exchange offeror. A Dealing Disclosure must contain details of the dealing concerned and of the person's interests and short positions in, and rights to subscribe for, any relevant securities of each of (i) the offeree company and (ii) any securities exchange offeror(s), save to the extent that these details have previously been disclosed under Rule 8. A Dealing Disclosure by a person to whom Rule 8.3(b) applies must be made by no later than 3.30 p.m. (London time) on the Business Day following the date of the relevant dealing. If two or more persons act together pursuant to an agreement or understanding, whether formal or informal, to acquire or control an interest in relevant securities of an offeree company or a securities exchange offeror, they will be deemed to be a single person for the purpose of Rule 8.3.

Opening Position Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company and by any offeror and Dealing Disclosures must also be made by the offeree company, by any offeror and by any persons acting in concert with any of them (see Rules 8.1, 8.2 and 8.4). Details of the offeree and offeror companies in respect of whose relevant securities Opening Position Disclosures and Dealing Disclosures must be made can be found in the Disclosure Table on the Panel's website at www.thetakeoverpanel.org.uk, including details of the number of relevant securities in issue, when the Offer Period commenced and when any offeror was first identified. You should contact the Panel's Market Surveillance Unit on +44 20 7638 0129 if you are in any doubt as to whether you are required to make an Opening Position Disclosure or a Dealing Disclosure.

Publication on website

In accordance with Rule 20.1 of the Code, a copy of this announcement is and will be available free of charge, subject to certain restrictions relating to persons resident in Restricted Jurisdictions, for inspection on i3 Energy 's website https://i3.energy/grantierra-offer-terms/at the same time as publication of this announcement. For the avoidance of doubt, the contents of the website referred to in this Announcement are not incorporated into and do not form part of this Announcement.

Notes to Editors:

i3 Energy plc is an oil and gas Company with a low cost, diversified, growing production base in Canada's most prolific hydrocarbon region, the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin and appraisal assets in the North Sea with significant upside.

The Company is well positioned to deliver future growth through the optimisation of its existing asset base and the acquisition of long life, low decline conventional production assets.

i3 is dedicated to responsible corporate practices and the environment, and places high value on adhering to strong Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG") practices. i3 is proud of its performance to date as a responsible steward of the environment, people, and capital management. The Company is committed to maintaining an ESG strategy, which has broader implications to long-term value creation, as these benefits extend beyond regulatory requirements.

i3 Energy plc is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange under the symbol I3E and on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol ITE. For further information on i3 please visit https://i3.energy

Forward-Looking Statements

This announcement (including information incorporated by reference into this announcement), oral statements regarding the Acquisition and other information published by Gran Tierra and i3 Energy contain certain forward looking statements with respect to the financial condition, strategies, objectives, results of operations and businesses of Gran Tierra and i3 Energy and their respective groups and certain plans and objectives with respect to the Combined Group. These forward looking statements can be identified by the fact that they do not relate only to historical or current facts. Forward looking statements are prospective in nature and are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations and projections of the management of Gran Tierra and i3 Energy about future events, and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward looking statements. The forward looking statements contained in this announcement include, without limitation, statements relating to the expected effects of the Acquisition on Gran Tierra and i3 Energy, the expected timing method of completion, and scope of the Acquisition, the expected actions of Gran Tierra upon completion of the Acquisition, Gran Tierra's ability to recognise the anticipated benefits from the Acquisition, expectations regarding the business and operations of the Combined Group, and other statements other than historical facts. Forward looking statements often use words such as "anticipate", "target", "expect", "estimate", "intend", "plan", "strategy", "focus", "envision", "goal", "believe", "hope", "aims", "continue", "will", "may", "should", "would", "could", or other words of similar meaning. These statements are based on assumptions and assessments made by Gran Tierra, and/or i3 Energy in light of their experience and their perception of historical trends, current conditions, future developments and other factors they believe appropriate. By their nature, forward looking statements involve risk and uncertainty, because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that will occur in the future and the factors described in the context of such forward looking statements in this announcement could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by such forward looking statements. Although it is believed that the expectations reflected in such forward looking statements are reasonable, no assurance can be given that such expectations will prove to have been correct and readers are therefore cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward looking statements. Actual results may vary from the forward looking statements.

There are several factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in forward looking statements. Among the factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward looking statements are changes in the global, political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory forces, future exchange and interest rates, changes in tax rates and future business acquisitions or dispositions.

Each forward looking statement speaks only as at the date of this announcement. Neither Gran Tierra nor i3 Energy, nor their respective groups assumes any obligation to update or correct the information contained in this announcement (whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise), except as required by applicable law or by the rules of any competent regulatory authority.

This information is provided by RNS, the news service of the London Stock Exchange. RNS is approved by the Financial Conduct Authority to act as a Primary Information Provider in the United Kingdom. Terms and conditions relating to the use and distribution of this information may apply. For further information, please contact [email protected] or visit www.rns.com.

SOURCE: i3 Energy PLC