Sintana Energy has signed definitive documentation to acquire a 44% interest in Maravilla Oil and Gas, a privately held Namibian company, for total consideration of US$6.5 million. The deal gives Sintana an indirect 35% interest in Petroleum Exploration License 37 (PEL 37), a 17,295 km² block in the Walvis Basin offshore Namibia.
Maravilla is indirectly controlled by Knowledge Katti, a non-executive director of Sintana. Maravilla holds an 80% controlling shareholding in Paragon Oil and Gas, a separate privately held Namibian company that owns a 100% operated interest in PEL 37.
Deal terms
| Component | Amount |
|---|---|
| Deposit, paid January 2026 | US$0.5 million |
| Cash at signing and closing | US$3.0 million |
| Pre-funded PEL 37 expenses | US$500,000 |
| Sintana shares at US$0.30 each | US$2.5 million |
| Total consideration | US$6.5 million |
Closing is subject to regulatory approvals and standard transactional closing conditions.
Because Knowledge Katti is a Sintana director, his stake in Maravilla makes the acquisition a related party transaction under AIM Rule 13. Sintana's independent directors, excluding Katti, consulted the company's nominated adviser, Zeus Capital Limited, and concluded the terms are fair and reasonable to shareholders.
The PEL 37 asset
PEL 37 lies in water depths of 100 to 1,500 meters, with identified prospects between 300 and 600 meters, overlying what Sintana describes as a proven, mature oil-prone Aptian source rock. The license carries 2,813 km² of 3D seismic data and about 1,000 line kilometers of 2D seismic, both shot in 2014, plus two historical wells: Cormorant-1, drilled in 2018, and Sasoil, drilled in 1995.
PEL 37 sits north and east of PEL 82, a license operated by an affiliate of Chevron, in which Sintana's Namibian affiliate, Custos Energy (Pty) Ltd, holds a 10% interest; Sintana itself holds a 49% stake in Custos. PEL 82 is about 70% covered by 3D seismic and hosts the Murumbe-1 and Wingat-1 wells, drilled previously by HRT Participações em Petróleo S.A., which intersected source rock and brought light oil to surface. Chevron has indicated it expects exploration activity on PEL 82, including a potential first exploration well in 2027.
In April 2026, Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd farmed down its interests in three licenses in the Walvis Basin, adjacent to PEL 82 and PEL 37, to bp PLC. Eco (Atlantic) said it expects significant activity on those licenses over the following 12 to 24 months, including seismic acquisition, reprocessing and exploration well decisions.
Maravilla is a privately held Namibian company focused on high-impact opportunities in West Africa and is exploring additional opportunities in emerging frontier geographies in the region. As part of the investment, Maravilla will make a Namibian $1 million donation to communities in the Erongo Region, coordinated with the Office of the Governor, the Honorable Dr. Natalia IGoagoses, and the Knowledge Foundation, led by Katti.
Robert Bose, Sintana's CEO, said the deal gives the company "cost-effective exposure to high-impact exploration licenses in emerging basins."
