Petition rejects bailout of firm

Almost 400 shareholders in Xcite Energy have signed a petition rejecting a bondholder bailout deal that will see their stakes in the North Sea firm nearly wiped out.

The oil and gas explorer’s lenders last month agreed a restructuring deal that would see them exchange Xcite’s $ 135million (£110million) debt pile for 98.5% of the company’s share capital.

The online petition had last night attracted 381 signatures of people claiming to be Xcite shareholders just days since it was launched. The petition’s organisers aim to reach 1,000 people who are angry about seeing their shares reduced to just 1.5% of their value. Last night

“Lenders intend to pursue enforcement action against”

the company’s shares closed over 10% higher to 1.66p.

Last month Xcite pledged to call an extraordinary general meeting for shareholders to vote on the proposals, but it warned that if they didn’t support the deal the lenders “intend to pursue enforcement action against” Xcite.

The British Virgin Island-registered firm, which has its operations base in Aberdeen, has been struggling to hammer out a deal to support its flagship Bentley project in the UK North Sea. It has been in negotiations with its lenders since December.

The company was unavailable for comment.