Glori Energy, Houston-based energy technology firm catering to the oil industry, has got listed on NASDAQ after completing its reverse merger with a blank-cheque firm Infinity Cross Border Acquisition Corporation (ICBAC), last week. Simultaneously it also completed a private placement led by Infinity group and Hicks Equity Partners.
“We are pleased to have completed this important step in Glori’s long-term growth strategy. The transaction provides us with the funds and access to capital needed to execute on our objective of acquiring oil producing properties and we are excited to now be a publicly traded company,” Stuart Page, CEO of Glori, said in the statement.
In January, Glori and Infinity signed a merger and share exchange agreement whereby Glori decided to merge with Infinity. The new enterprise is called Glori Energy Inc.
Gross proceeds to the merged entity as a result of the foregoing transactions (including conversion of promissory notes into shares) totalled $35.7 million, before the payment of related expenses but after payments pursuant to the Share Tender Offer, the statement said.
As part of the deal, Hicks Equity Partners, Infinity Group and other investors have also purchased around $8.5 million of common stock of Glori and have an option to buy additional $16.5 million of Glori’s common stock 11 business days after the closing of the merger.
Glori
Glori is a technology focused energy company that deploys its proprietary biotechnology to facilitate the secondary production of oil at less than $10 per barrel. Only one-third of discovered oil is typically recovered during the life of an oilfield, as recovery of the remaining two-thirds of oil is not economically viable with current technology. By activating in-situ microbiology within the reservoir, Glori seeks to efficiently produce a portion of this remaining oil.
It acquires, owns and operates mature oilfields into which it applies its AERO (Activated Environment for Recovery of Oil) System technology and additionally is deploying its technology in a range of different geographies and geologies for E&P clients.
Glori, which is based in Houston, Texas, was incorporated as Glori Oil Limited, a Delaware Corporation, in November 2005 and changed its name to Glori Energy Inc. in May 2011.
In addition to the initial funding by Glori’s founders, it has successfully concluded a series of venture capital and private equity offerings between 2007 and March 2014 totalling approximately $57.3 million. Glori’s principal stockholders include GTI Group, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Oxford Bioscience Partners, Rawoz Technology Company Ltd., Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund Ltd., Gentry-Glori Energy Investment, Advantage Capital Partners and Energy Technology Ventures, LLC, which is a joint venture of General Electric, ConocoPhillips and NRG Cleantech Investments LLC.
It was conceptualised by GTI Group in late 2005 and Glori licensed the IP and know-how from The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI).
Glori had previously postponed a $115 million initial public offering and turned its attention to private markets to find funding for an oilfield asset purchase.
Infinity
ICBAC was a blank-check company co-sponsored by Infinity group and Hicks Equity. It consummated its IPO on July 25, 2012 and was established for the purpose of acquiring a growing business via a reverse merger.
Mark Chess, managing director of Infinity and now a director of Glori, said, “We are happy to be investing in Glori along with Hicks. We appreciate Stuart’s leadership and are excited about the company’s growth prospects. We believe the funds that Glori receives in connection with this transaction will enable it to acquire oil assets well suited for deployment of its technology.”
Infinity group is a cross-border platform and private equity fund known for its strong roots in China. It currently manages $800 million and has 17 RMB joint venture funds throughout China, making Infinity the owner of more RMB funds than any other foreign PE fund in China. Infinity to date has made 100 deals and 30 successful exits. It focuses on sectors such as medical, agricultural, water, energy and high-end manufacturing. Infinity is led by managing partners Amir gal-Or and Avishai Silvershatz.
Hicks Equity Partners is the private equity arm for Hicks Holdings LLC, a holding company for the Thomas O. Hicks family’s assets. With 35 years of private equity experience, Hicks pioneered the ‘buy and build’ strategy of investing and founded Hicks Muse Tate & Furst, which raised more than $12 billion of private equity across six funds and completed over $50 billion of leveraged acquisitions.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)