Premier Oil Plc shareholders on Jan. 12 voted in favor of a reverse takeover of private equity-backed Chrysaor Holdings Ltd. to create the British North Sea's biggest oil and gas producer in which Premier shareholders will hold about 5.5%.

"Shareholder approval for the transaction has now been received," said Premier, which will be renamed Harbour Energy Plc but maintain its London listing.

Creditors of Premier, which has net debt of $1.9 billion, will receive $1.2 billion in cash under the merger and debt restructuring plan from a new debt facility and existing cash from both groups.

This on average represents a payout of around 61 cents for each dollar owed, the prospectus said. They can also elect to receive further shares representing up to 18% of the new group, or a cash alternative bringing the payout to around 75 cents.

Premier said the creditor vote is expected on Feb. 22.

"As previously announced, the requisite level of Premier's creditors have irrevocably undertaken to vote in favor of the restructuring plans," it said.

Offshore