From carswell
There some dealmakers...


Down at the very bottom, Rick McHardy's Return Energy Inc. (RTN) -- doing business as Spartan Delta Corp. -- ended a 12-day-long trading halt this morning, and added half a cent to 2.5 cents on 44.7 million shares. It is increasing its previously announced equity financing. As discussed in Friday's Energy Summary, Spartan has decided to buy the 25,000-barrel-a-day assets of Bellatrix Exploration, a once-public Alberta gas producer that entered creditor protection last year. The price tag is $102.2-million, comprising $87.4-million cash plus the assumption of $14.8-million liabilities. Spartan intended to cover some of the cash portion by completing a $20-million private placement of two-cent shares. Now, citing "excess confirmed and committed institutional demand," it has more than tripled the financing to $64-million, still at two cents. That means it will issue 3.2 billion shares. A 1-for-100 rollback was already announced last week; Spartan has not said whether this will increase too.

Spartan by name and nature, the company kept today's press release brief and to the point, but it is presumably highly pleased -- not only with the high institutional interest, but the fact that it will no longer have to rely so much on its credit line. Its $100-million credit facility would have been $65-million drawn if the acquisition went through as originally envisioned -- not the best way for a company to start out a new life as a producer.


Now the figure should be a much more comfortable $21-million. As to why institutional investors should be so interested, this may reflect Spartan's management.



Mr. McHardy and his people are now on their fourth Spartan promotion. They previously sold Spartan Exploration to Obsidian Energy Ltd. (OBE: $0.2725) in 2011, then sold Spartan Oil to Bonterra Energy Corp. (BNE: $1.16) in 2013 and then sold Spartan Energy to Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET: $5.23) in 2018.