King Country Energy plans retail growth following favourable shareholder vote

King Country Energy shareholders today approved the acquisition of Todd Energy’s 50% share in the Mangahao Power Station for $70 million.

On 16 March 2012 King Country Energy announced the proposal to acquire Todd Energy’s 50% share in the station. The shareholder vote today fulfilled the final requirement needed for the transaction to progress.

King Country Energy Chairman, Brian Gurney, said the favourable shareholder vote puts the company in a position to focus on retail growth.

“This agreement clearly puts King Country Energy on a path for expansion.

“For many years, we have been restricted in our ability to grow our customer numbers due to our static generation output and relative electricity hedge market exposure. Gaining this extra generation capacity gives us the ability to grow the retail side of our business, which will be a key focus for our staff,” explained Mr Gurney.

King Country Energy currently generates around 125 GWh of electricity annually, while demand from its 18,000 customers is around 210 GWh per year. Gaining 100% ownership of Mangahao provides the company with an extra 65 GWh per year.

Settlement of the transaction with Todd Energy will occur on 1 June 2012 and will result in King Country Energy being the sole owner of the asset following the payment of $33.76 million cash and the issuance of 7.63 million new King Country Energy shares to Todd Energy at an issue price of $4.75 per share.