History
Ignis Petroleum Group grew from a shell into a Texas gas player on borrowed money, lost control of its main asset, and deregistered in 2009.
2005-2006: A shell becomes an explorer
Ignis Petroleum Group began as a shell company, Sheer Ventures Inc. On May 16, 2005 it agreed to issue 1,600,000 restricted shares for all the shares of Ignis Petroleum Corporation, an oil and gas exploration company, which became its business. Michael Piazza and Philipp Buschmann joined the board as President and Chief Operating Officer, and 6,800,000 shares were outstanding.
Funding came quickly. In July 2005 the company, by then renamed, sold 3,000,000 units at $0.50 each ($1,500,000) to Petrofinanz GmbH. Each unit was a share plus a warrant (a right to buy another share) at $1.50. The money was meant for a well expected to start drilling in August.
In January 2006 it agreed to sell Cornell Capital Partners $5,000,000 of 7% secured convertible debentures, which are loans that can be repaid in shares. They came with warrants, a security interest over the company's assets, and pledges of shares by Buschmann and Piazza. The final $1,000,000 was advanced early in April 2006, in exchange for further warrants. The money was meant for the Barnett Crossroads and Crimson Bayou prospects. In March 2006 the company confirmed its right to earn a 75% working interest in Barnett Crossroads in Alabama, with Dragon Energy operating the well. In August 2006 the Petrofinanz loan was restated, adding $500,000 to the original $100,000 at 10% interest.
2006-2007: St. Jo Ridge and its funding
In September 2006 a subsidiary, Ignis Barnett Shale, LLC, agreed to buy 45% of W.B. Osborn's interests in producing properties and a gas gathering system in the St. Jo Ridge Field in North Texas. The price was $17,600,000 plus $850,000 in instalments, and a commitment to fund up to $5,000,000 of lease purchases. The press release said financing was still being negotiated.
The deal closed on November 15, 2006, paid for by affiliates of Silver Point Capital. Silver Point funded all of the purchase and approved costs, and took its capital plus a specified return first. Ignis managed the business day to day and could earn up to 50% of cash distributions if performance criteria were met. The subsidiary was therefore no longer wholly owned. In March 2007 Petrofinanz lent another $400,000, bringing the loan to $1,000,000, with repayment pushed out to June 30, 2009.
2007: Restatements and a failed deal
In May 2007 new auditor Hein told the company that its March 2006 quarter must be restated. The errors included an understated warrant liability and two share issuances that had not been charged. The nine-month net loss rose from $2,617,423 to $3,773,507. In August management concluded that the audited year to June 30, 2006 also had to be restated, and in September it listed the reports that could not be relied on. Hein began a re-audit.
On September 6, 2007 a subsidiary agreed to buy Anadarko's Liberty Hills prospect in Louisiana for $3,000,000, which the company called its largest acquisition. It could not finalize the funding, and the deal ended on September 28 with no material penalties.
2007-2009: Losing the manager's role
On December 21, 2007 Silver Point removed Ignis as manager of Ignis Barnett Shale. That ended a services agreement paying Ignis $50,750 a month. The filings do not say what happened to its contingent share of distributions. By then Geoff Evett signed as President and CEO, where Piazza had held the role earlier.
On July 18, 2008 YA Global, as Cornell was now called, agreed to hold off on its remedies for the company's failure to register the shares underlying the debentures. The pause ran to January 5, 2009. Ignis was to pay $55,000 a month from August 2008, and the debentures' conversion price was fixed at $0.03. The Petrofinanz loan of $1,000,000 remained due on June 30, 2009. On April 29, 2009 the company deregistered its securities, ending its obligation to file reports with the SEC.
Written from the 18 story beats below (2005 to 29 Apr 2009), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.