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VAALCO Energy, Inc.
Headnote
National Policy 11-203 Process for Exemptive Relief Applications in Multiple Jurisdictions -- relief from the requirements of National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities -- issuer has less than 10% of its securityholders resident in Canada -- filer to remain a U.S. issuer and a SEC foreign issuer -- issuer exempt from requirements of NI 51-101 provided that the issuer complies with the oil and gas disclosure requirements of the SEC and NYSE.
Applicable Legislative Provisions
National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities, s. 8.1.
Citation: Re VAALCO Energy, Inc., 2023 ABASC 19.
February 21, 2023
IN THE MATTER OF THE SECURITIES LEGISLATION OF ALBERTA AND ONTARIO (the Jurisdictions) AND IN THE MATTER OF THE PROCESS FOR EXEMPTIVE RELIEF APPLICATIONS IN MULTIPLE JURISDICTIONS AND IN THE MATTER OF VAALCO ENERGY, INC. (the Filer)
DECISION
Background
The securities regulatory authority or regulator in each of the Jurisdictions (each a Decision Maker) has received an application from the Filer for a decision (the Exemption Sought) under the securities legislation of the Jurisdictions (the Legislation) that, subject to the conditions set forth herein, the Filer be exempted from the requirements of National Instrument 51-101 Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities (NI 51-101) (the Exemption Sought).
Under the Process for Exemptive Relief Applications in Multiple Jurisdictions (for a dual application):
(a) the Alberta Securities Commission is the principal regulator for this application;
(b) the Filer has provided notice that subsection 4.7(1) of Multilateral Instrument 11-102 Passport System (MI 11-102) is intended to be relied upon in each of British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Québec, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador; and
(c) this decision is the decision of the principal regulator and evidences the decision of the securities regulatory authority or regulator in Ontario.
Interpretation
Terms defined in National Instrument 14-101 Definitions, MI 11-102, National Instrument 71-101 The Multijurisdictional Disclosure System (NI 71-101) and National Instrument 71-102 Continuous Disclosure and Other Exemptions Relating to Foreign Issuers (NI 71-102) have the same meanings if used in this decision, unless otherwise defined.
Representations
This decision is based on the following facts represented by the Filer:
1. The Filer is a corporation governed by the laws of the State of Delaware, with its head office in Houston, Texas.
2. The Filer is an energy company with production, development and exploration assets in West and North Africa and western Canada.
3. The Filer is a reporting issuer in each of the provinces of Canada (collectively, the Reporting Jurisdictions), and is not in default of securities legislation in any jurisdiction of Canada. The Filer became a reporting issuer in the Reporting Jurisdictions upon completion of a plan of arrangement under Section 193 of the Business Corporations Act (Alberta) pursuant to which the Filer acquired all of the issued and outstanding shares of TransGlobe Energy Corporation.
4. The Filer's authorized capital stock consists of 160,000,000 shares of common stock (Common Shares), par value $0.10 per share, and 500,000 shares of preferred stock (Preferred Shares), par value $25.00 per share. As of November 30, 2022, there were 108,803,886 Common Shares issued and outstanding (excluding any treasury stock held by the Filer), and no Preferred Shares were outstanding.
5. The Common Shares are listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the London Stock Exchange under the symbol "EGY".
6. The Filer has no outstanding notes or other debt instruments.
7. Based on the Filer's list of registered shareholders provided by its registrar and transfer agent, as of November 30, 2022, registered holders of Common Shares located in Canada held an aggregate of 51,861 Common Shares, which equates to 0.05 percent of the Filer's issued and outstanding Common Shares.
8. Based on information obtained by the Filer from Broadridge Financial Solutions Inc., which conducted geographical surveys of beneficial holders of the Common Shares as at November 23, 2022 covering approximately 99,000,000 Common Shares (representing 90.7% of the issued and outstanding Common Shares), Canadian beneficial shareholder accounts hold approximately 6,800,000 Common Shares, which equates to 6.3 percent of the total outstanding Common Shares and 6.7 percent of the Common Shares represented in the beneficial shareholder information.
9. The Common Shares are registered under the 1934 Act. The Filer is subject to and is in compliance with all requirements applicable to it imposed by the SEC, the 1933 Act, the 1934 Act, the United States Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules of the NYSE (collectively, the U.S. Rules).
10. The Filer prepares disclosure with respect to its oil and natural gas activities (the Oil and Gas Disclosure) in accordance with the U.S. Rules.
11. The Filer is a "U.S. issuer" under NI 71-101 and qualifies as an "SEC foreign issuer" under NI 71-102 and, as such, relies on and complies with the exemptions from Canadian continuous disclosure requirements afforded to SEC foreign issuers under Part 4 of NI 71-102.
12. The Common Shares are not listed for trading on any "marketplace" in Canada (as such term is defined in National Instrument 21-101 Marketplace Operation), and the Filer has no current intention to list the Common Shares on any marketplace in Canada.
Decision
Each of the Decision Makers is satisfied that the decision meets the test set out in the Legislation for the Decision Maker to make the decision.
The decision of the Decision Makers under the Legislation is that the Exemption Sought is granted, provided that:
(a) the Filer remains a U.S. issuer and an SEC foreign issuer;
(b) the Filer continues to prepare the Oil and Gas Disclosure in compliance with the U.S. Rules;
(c) the Filer issues in Canada, and files on SEDAR, a news release stating that it will provide the Oil and Gas Disclosure in accordance with the U.S. Rules rather than in accordance with NI 51-101; and
(d) the Filer files the Oil and Gas Disclosure with the securities regulatory authority or regulator in the Reporting Jurisdictions as soon as practicable after the Oil and Gas Disclosure is filed pursuant to the U.S. Rules.
"Timothy Robson"
Manager, Legal
Corporate Finance
Alberta Securities Commission
OSC File #: 2022/0565