The Board of Dragon Oil reports the proposed restructuring of the Company by means of a scheme of arrangement by putting in place a Bermuda-incorporated company as the new ultimate holding company of the Group. Pursuant to the Scheme, Dragon Oil Limited, the Bermuda-incorporated company, will become the new holding company of the Group. Upon implementation of the corporate restructuring, the existing Company shareholders will hold one share in Dragon Oil Limited for every share previously held by them in Dragon Oil plc.

If the corporate restructuring is approved and implemented, the Company shareholders will obtain the entire 100% interest in Dragon Oil Limited. Dragon Oil Limited will make an application for admission of its entire issued share capital to the Official List of the UK Listing Authority (as a primary listing) and of the Irish Stock Exchange (as a secondary listing) and to trading on to the main markets for listed securities of the London Stock Exchange and the Irish Stock Exchange.

The Board believes that the corporate restructuring is in the best interests of Dragon Oil and the Company shareholders, and is the next step in the development of Dragon Oil as an innovative international oil and gas development and production company.

The decision to proceed with the proposed corporate restructuring is the result of extensive consideration by the Board of the advantages and disadvantages of relocating the holding company of the Group to a more logical jurisdiction of incorporation. Following the disposal of its interest in an Irish-based associated company in 2002, Dragon Oil ceased to have any commercial connection with Ireland. Approximately 96% of the Company’s issued share capital is held outside Ireland and the Group’s principal asset is located in Turkmenistan with further working interests in assets in the Republic of Yemen. Dragon Oil plc has for several years convened its Annual General Meeting ("AGM") in London, England in order to accommodate the majority of its shareholders, and all meetings of the Board are held outside Ireland. The Group has been headquartered in Dubai since 1999 and its sole connection with Ireland has been to maintain a statutory registered office for the Company in Dublin.

The Board has given frequent consideration to choosing a more logical jurisdiction of incorporation for the Group’s holding company. Having taken advice, the Board has decided that the features of an appropriate jurisdiction are that it should be an English-speaking, internationally-focussed jurisdiction, which is reasonably similar to the Irish and UK corporate environment. Bermuda is the place of registration of Dragon Oil (Turkmenistan) Limited, the principal operating company of the Group. Bermuda is also a respected location for international business and has been chosen as the jurisdiction of incorporation for several international companies that are traded on the London Stock Exchange and on other leading stock exchanges around the world.

Tags: Dragon Oil Plc