The merger of the two companies to be done through a plan of arrangement, which upon completion will give Pieridae Energy ownership of a large area of producing and gas-prone reserve and resource properties located mainly in the central Alberta Foothills region.

The agreement before its effective date also gives scope for the transfer of certain stakes in Cardium light oil-focused Alberta Foothills properties by Ikkuma to a newly created private corporation, named ExploreCo, subject to customary regulatory approvals from the Alberta Energy Regulator (AER).

Under the terms of the merger, each shareholder of Ikkuma will get 0.1926 of a common share of Pieridae Energy and 0.1 of a share of ExploreCo for each common share they hold in Ikkuma. This will be subject to approval from AER of the transfer of the crude oil properties by Ikkuma to ExploreCo.

Pieridae Energy said that the deal with Ikkuma is a key step in implementing its strategic plans for the acquisition of natural gas reserves and resources across its integrated business model.

The company said that the transaction cost is less than 0.015% of the total cost of its Goldboro LNG project and is a major push towards reaching the final investment decision on it this year.

Pieridae Energy CEO Alfred Sorensen said: “The purchase of Ikkuma begins the final steps to reaching the Final Investment Decision which along with our other partners will ensure that Canada has the opportunity to export its resources to international markets.”

Further, Pieridae Energy believes that the acquisition of Ikkuma advances its position in North America as a fully integrated LNG company, from upstream development of natural gas reserves and resources to the production of liquefied natural gas for sale to its current customers in Europe.

Ikkuma CEO Tim de Freitas said: “The Ikkuma team is excited to see capital deployed to the prolific conventional natural gas pools in the Alberta and BC Foothills and to supply gas through a fully integrated Canadian LNG Company.”

The Goldboro LNG project to be developed at the Goldboro Industrial Park in Guysborough County will have an LNG processing facility, storage tanks and marine works.