SWALA Oil and Gas (Tanzania) has shown its intention to go public by listing its shares on Enterprise Growth Market (EGM) to boost its exploration drive.
The company - majority owned by Swala Oil and Gas Australia - is currently preparing offer documents to be presented for approval to shareholders to roll out the listing process.
According to the Tanzania Securities Chief Executive Officer Mr Moremi Marwa, preparations were on top gear but the exact date would be made available after the shareholders' approval. "Swala at the moment is preparing offer document before seeking shareholders approval," Mr Marwa said adding "thereafter will file an application for public offering to CMSA and DSE."
Tanzania Securities is the issue's stock brokerage agent. The EGM is the alternative equity market that accepts startup companies which have no business track record. The market has lesser stringent condition for raising capital unlike its sister bourse the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE). However, since the EGM was launched last December it is yet to list a single firm on its board.
And if, Swala gets a nod from shareholders, it might become the first company on board alternative market. Last year, Swala, offered 1.2 million US dollars via a private placement in Tanzania. The money collected was expected to be used for data on the best drilling locations along its acquired blocks.
The private placement was opened last August and closes at the end of September 2014, with investors expected to buy a minimum of 80,000 shares at 390/- per share. Swala Oil thinks that it has a higher chance of finding oil in Tanzania, given that its blocks share the same geographical features as Kenya's block 10BB and Uganda's Lake Albert region, where Tullow Oil has discovered in excess of 1.2 billion barrels of oil.
The company has been awarded a 50 per cent operating interest in the Pangani Block in Tanzania. Swala has a 50 per cent equity interest in Pangani and the Kilosa-Kilombero hydrocarbon exploration licences.
