VAALCO Energy (EGY) Announces $30M Share Buyback

VAALCO Energy Inc. (NYSE: EGY) today announced that its newly-expanded Board of Directors formally ratified and approved the share buyback program that was announced on August 8, 2022 in conjunction with the pending business combination with TransGlobe. The Board also directed management to implement a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan to facilitate share purchases through open market purchases, privately-negotiated transactions, or otherwise in compliance with Rule 10b-18 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The plan provides for an aggregate purchase of currently outstanding common stock up to $30 million over 20 months. Payment for shares repurchased under the program will be funded using the Company's cash on hand and cash flow from operations.

George Maxwell, VAALCO’s Chief Executive Officer, commented, "We continue to demonstrate the strong rationale for the business combination with TransGlobe and, with our share buyback, are fulfilling the first of the two key commitments that we made regarding returning meaningful value to our shareholders on a sustainable basis. We also plan to nearly double our dividend to $0.25 per share annually beginning in 2023 to fulfil the second commitment. We believe right now is a particularly opportune time to initiate the buyback program given the recent market price levels of our equity. We believe that this is an excellent opportunity to buy our common shares at a significant discount to their intrinsic value and are a very attractive investment of our strong cash balance. We believe the market has not yet incorporated the value that will be created from the combination of our two companies into a single entity with very strong cash flow generation capacity and a debt-free balance sheet with significant cash on hand. We have a premier portfolio of assets in Gabon, Egypt, Equatorial Guinea and Canada which should allow us to return meaningful cash to our shareholders on a sustainable basis through dividends, share buybacks and potentially through special distributions in the future.”

The actual timing, number and value of shares repurchased under the share buyback program will depend on a number of factors, including constraints specified in any Rule 10b5-1 trading plans, price, general business and market conditions, and alternative investment opportunities. Under such a trading plan, the Company’s third-party broker, subject to Securities and Exchange Commission regulations regarding certain price, market, volume and timing constraints, would have authority to purchase the Company’s common stock in accordance with the terms of the plan.

The share buyback program does not obligate the Company to acquire any specific number of shares in any period, and may be expanded, extended, modified or discontinued at any time.

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