UK: Alkane Energy Acquires Greenpark Energy

UK coal-bed methane focused Alkane Energy has announced that it has acquired the entire issued share capital in Greenpark Energy, at a cost of £5.725 million.

Alkane has used a number of funding methods to secure the acquisition, including a convertible loan of £2 million, issue of a quarter of a million pounds of Alkane shares and the extension and addition of banking funds by the company's bank Lloyds TSB.

Alkane says the acquisition is a strategic one, granting the company the assets of a coal mine methane and power response power generation business, and expects the sale to increase Alkane's earnings.

Greenpark's assets for the year end December 2011, comprising unaudited revenues and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA), are £3.4 million and £1.9 million respectively, totalling £5.3 million.

The sale also grants Alkane access to seven coal-bed methane exploitation licences, plant and other equipment with a value of £9 million, and eight megawatts (MW) of coal-bed methane capacity from three sites. The company also gains access to 21 MW of power response capacity from 5 sites and total power generation of 46GWh for the year ended 31 December 2011.

CEO of Alkane, Neil O'Brien says that the acquisition allows the company to significantly step up its operations.

"This acquisition is a significant step change in the scale of Alkane and adds significantly to our operating capacity and project pipeline," he said. "In addition, the acquisition will allow us to triple our capacity in power response for the National Grid."