All eyes on Petroceltic International EGM

Investors will be closely watching today's Petroceltic International EGM, following a battle between the Irish oil explorer and its biggest shareholder, Worldview Capital Management, over a $100 million share placing.

Worldview, which holds a 17 per cent stake in Petroceltic, said the Dublin-based group’s $100 million share placing contained a number of corporate governance failings and should be rejected at the EGM.

Petroceltic has strongly refuted claims the placing is not in shareholders’ interests, and denied corporate governance failings. It defended its plans to raise funds saying some of its latest drilling work in Kurdistan, Romania and Egypt had failed to produce significant amounts of oil or gas.

The explorer plans to start trading on London’s main stock exchange in July after it raises $100 million from the share sale. The funding is expected to drive growth.

It rejected Worldview’s offer to buy the entire placing, saying it wanted to attract new investors.

Worldview questioned the board's decision to sell £30 million of the placing to Dovenby Capital, and urged shareholders to vote against the placing at the EGM. The Swiss group claims that Petroceltic is engaging in an abuse of shareholder rights in its implementation of the fundraising exercise.