Ezion

Ezion: halt may be related to a new joint investment in a jack-up rig.
The Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority (AIDEA) said it is proposing to enter into a public-private agreement with Kenai Offshore Ventures (created by Buccaneer), Buccaneer Energy and Ezion Hldgs to jointly invest up to US$30m in a jack-up rig for use in Cook Inlet, Alaska....

The deal is subject to Buccaneer and Ezion meeting 15 conditions over the next few months.

Under the deal, Buccaneer and Ezion are expected to contribute at least US$5m each to the project (in return for a stake in KOV); and secure a term loan for as much as US$55m needed to fund the $85m drilling program…

The proposed agreement also requires the parties to choose a contractor to upgrade a rig docked in Singapore, a carrier to bring the rig to Cook Inlet, an asset manager and an operator, and to have a drilling program completely permitted by Aug 31, 2011…

Expect the market to view this move positively, and possibly re-rate the stock. Ezion effectively has equity participation in this drilling program and may benefit from any potential oil finds. Moreover this paves the way for Ezion to provide its offshore support services in a new geographical area that holds several underexplored offshore oil and gas prospects.
Pre-halt, Street is already a unanimous Buy with recent TP ranging btwn $0.67-1.10.

Kindly note that the above story on Ezion was sourced from foreign news agencies, which 1st broke the news on Mar 30. Ezion has not made any official anncmt via SGX following its trading halt. It is no wonder FTs are ahead of locals even when it comes to SGX-listed companies...