US LNG firm Tellurian said it will ask its shareholders at its annual meeting to approve doubling the number of its common shares, as it continues to work on financing the first phase of its Driftwood LNG export plant in Louisiana.
According to a filling with the US SEC, Tellurian will hold the annual meeting of the stockholders on June 7 in Houston.
The stockholders will vote to “approve and adopt an amended and restated certificate of incorporation of Tellurian to increase the number of authorized shares of Tellurian common stock from 800 million to 1.6 billion and to make certain immaterial revisions,” the firm said.
As of April 7, 2023, of the 800 million authorized shares of Tellurian common stock, there were 562,815,397 shares outstanding and about 105 million shares subject to reserves other than for the company’s equity at-the-market offering program.
Financing
Tellurian said the increase in the number of authorized shares would “enable the company to issue shares from time to time as may be required for business purposes such as raising additional capital for ongoing operations, business and asset acquisitions, stock splits and dividends and other corporate purposes.”
The company’s board recognizes that the issuance of additional shares of Tellurian common stock “may adversely affect the interests of the holders of Tellurian common stock,” it said.
“The board believes, however, that these potential risks are outweighed by the benefit that an increase in the number of available shares would provide in terms of additional financing flexibility,” Tellurian said.
Tellurian’s co-founder and executive chairman, Charif Souki, is “highly confident” that the company will secure $7 billion from banks to finance the first phase of its Driftwood LNG export project.
Under the first phase, Tellurian aims to build two LNG plants near Lake Charles with an export capacity of up to 11 mtpa and expects the costs to reach up to $13.6 billion.
While Tellurian is working on financing of the project, US engineer and construction giant Bechtel is moving forward with the initial site works under a limited notice to proceed issued in March last year.
In addition, Tellurian recently signed a land sale and leaseback deal for the Driftwood land worth $1 billion with a New York-based institutional investor.