Southern Africa Focused Gas Explorer Sunbird Raises A$25 mn for Ibhubesi Gas Project

Australia listed Southern African gas explorer and developer Sunbird Energy on Tuesday announced a capital injection of over A$25 million which will help the company advance development of its Ibhubesi Gas Project in South Africa.

The transaction will see the Pan-African investment company, Vandasia Investments Limited acquire a 43.9% interest in Sunbird via a two stage transaction. Overall, the transaction is priced at a premium of 79% to Sunbird's last traded share price.

“Beyond the significant confidence expressed by Vandasia in the company’s prospects, as evidenced by the investment, this transaction delivers the funding required to advance the Ibhubesi Gas Project to commercialisation and provides Sunbird with a highly capable strategic shareholder with extensive industry experience in Africa,” Sunbird stated.

Vandasia is a specialist investment company established by a group of leading African industrialists with a focus on developing the vast gas resources in continental Africa. Vandasia is structured to make investments in upstream gas assets, LNG solutions and related infrastructure, as well as gas-to-power projects.

Sunbird holds a 76% interest in Ibhubesi Gas Project (IGP) which is the largest undeveloped gas discovery in South Africa. The company also has a portfolio of five Coal Bed Methane (CBM) projects covering an extensive area (10,070 km2) of prospective coal basins in South Africa and Botswana.