Dentons has advised Africa focused oil and gas exploration company Lekoil Limited on its admission to trading on AIM. Lekoil raised £32 million, placing 80 million shares on AIM in what is the biggest AIM listing to be completed so far in 2013. It is the seventh Nigeria focused company to list in London.

Lekoil’s Nigerian subsidiary recently signed an agreement to farm into the interest of a subsidiary of Afren plc in OPL310, an offshore asset located in the Dahomey-Benin Basin. Upon completion, Lekoil will have an indirect 27 per cent economic interest and an indirect 15.43 per cent participating interest in the block. OPL310 has un-risked net recoverable prospective resources estimated at around 128.5 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMboe).

In addition to OPL310, a subsidiary of Lekoil operates two Namibian offshore exploration blocks located in the prospective Luderitz basin.

Lekoil is the latest in a long line of African energy companies to turn to Dentons, which has a network of offices and associate firms spanning 21 countries across the African continent.

The Dentons team was led by corporate partners Nigel Webber and Neil Nicholson, assisted by Max Moore and Joe Altendorff. Banking partner Catherine Astruc and energy partner Danielle Beggs led the financing and energy aspects of the transaction, assisted by John Stockdale and Peter Allen.