Iona Energy Inc.: Bondholder Meeting Summons-Amendment to Terms of Restructuring

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwired - Oct. 5, 2015) -

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Iona Energy Inc. ("Iona" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:INA), a Canadian independent oil & gas company with assets in the UK North Sea announces that it has today published a summons to a bondholders' meeting (the "Summons") to be held on 13 October, 2015 to approve certain amendments (the "Amendments") to the terms of the restructuring of Iona (the "Restructuring") which was approved and agreed by the bondholders of Iona Energy Company (UK) plc (the "Bondholders") at a meeting on 6 August 2015.

Since the 6 August Iona has progressed the implementation of the Restructuring however, it has become clear that further time is required to finalise certain of the documentation. Accordingly, to facilitate completion of the conditions precedent to the Restructuring, the long stop date for completion of the Restructuring was extended from 30 September 2015 to 30 November 2015 following an affirmative vote by Bondholders at Bondholder meeting held on 30 September 2015. 

Since 6 August, macro economic factors and certain items specific to the Company have impacted Iona's view of future potential liquidity requirements. These include:

1. current volatility in the oil price;
   
   
2. current volatility in the GBP:USD FX rate; and
   
   
3. a provision for later Huntington capex and consequent re-phasing of revenue arising from that Huntington capex.
   
   

To provide Iona with additional liquidity, and following extensive discussion with the Ad Hoc Committee of Bondholders, the Company is proposing to defer the USD 24 million Restricted Cash Repayment originally proposed to be paid to the Bondholders on the Restructuring Implementation Date and instead utilise this cash to provide additional financial headroom.

The Company has received strong support for the Amendments from the Ad-Hoc Committee of Bondholders. Approval is subject to a two thirds majority of bondholders voting in favour.

Further details of the proposed Amendments are outlined in the Summons published today. The Summons can be found at the Company's website at www.ionaenergy.com.

The Restructuring and all its constituent transactions or arrangements are in agreed form but remain subject to negotiation and execution of final documentation.

The Company specifically draws the attention of shareholders and Bondholders to the Forward Looking Statements and Notes section of this release and to the Summons. In particular, the Company also draws attention to the consequences of not receiving a positive bondholder vote at the forthcoming meeting and/or not implementing the various potential arrangements.

Additional information relating to the Company is available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.

Notes

About Iona Energy:

Iona is an oil and gas company with assets in the United Kingdom's North Sea. www.ionaenergy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

Some of the statements in this announcement are forward-looking, including statements regarding the material terms, anticipated effects and anticipated timing of the Restructuring, (including the proposed Amendments), and future business plans of Iona. When used in this announcement, the words "expects," "believes," "anticipate", "plans", "may", "will", "would", "should", "scheduled", "targeted", "estimated" and similar expressions, and the negatives thereof, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are not promises or guarantees, are based on various assumptions by Iona's management, including assumptions regarding future contractual terms and anticipated timing which may be beyond Iona's control, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes to differ materially from those suggested by any such statements, including without limitation, the risk that the business plans described in this announcement are changed as a result of new developments or information, the risk that the Restructuring is not implemented for any reason, including the risk that the Amendments are not approved by the Bondholders, the risk that the final terms of the definitive agreements implementing the Restructuring (or portions thereof) are different than those anticipated, and the risk that the Restructuring is delayed or does not have the anticipated positive impact upon the Company. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Iona Energy Inc. expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any forward-looking statement is based except as required by applicable securities laws. 

There remains significant uncertainty with regard the implementation of the Restructuring. Implementation of the Amendments is subject to approval by a two thirds majority of Bondholders at a Bondholder meeting and there is no guarantee that bondholders will vote in favour. In the event that the Amendments are not approved by Bondholders then the Company will likely default under the terms of the Bonds. In an event of default, Bondholders could require immediate repayment of the Bonds. 

Neither the TSX Venture Exchange Inc. nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.