Imperial talks off

IMPERIAL Energy, the Yorkshire-based energy company founded by
Leeds lawyer Peter Levine, which makes its debut on the FTSE 250
index today, has ended talks with Russian bank Gazprombank about an
investment in the company.

The group today announced that an “unsolicited indicative
proposal from Gazprombank to subscribe for newly issued shares in
Imperial Energy at a discount to the prevailing Imperial share
price” had seen talks between the two but they had now ended
and “the initial proposal will not be progressed”.

In a statement Imperial said: “Both groups take the view
that there is room for mutual cooperation between them in the
petroleum industry of Russia in other ways. This is intended to be
pursued in due course and as may be appropriate.”

Imperial which has its registered office in Leeds but its main
area of operations in Western Siberia, only moved from the
Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to the main London Stock
Exchange six months ago.

Since it floated in 2004, Imperial, which is involved in oil
exploration and production in Siberia and Kazakhstan, has seen its
shares increase from 108p to reach more than £15 earlier this
month.

Imperial Energy is an upstream oil exploration and production
company focused on the Commonwealth of Independent States and in
particular, the Russian Federation.