Reabold Resources announced this afternoon it had reached agreement on the takeover of Union Jack Oil.

The combined company would have onshore stakes in the Wressle oil site in North Lincolnshire, the West Newton oil and gas development in East Yorkshire and licences in Lincolnshire.

Union Jack said in a statement the Reabold offer, initially made last month, was “fair and reasonable”.

Union Jack’s executive chairman, David Bramhill, said:

“The Offer has a compelling strategic rationale, creating a more substantial and better capitalised oil and gas company with complementary assets and aligned objectives.

“The combination of Union Jack and Reabold will create a strengthened onshore oil and gas company in both the UK and internationally with a balanced portfolio of near-term production, appraisal and high-impact development opportunities in the pursuit of future value creation.

“The combination will deliver a better capitalised business and more diversified portfolio with enhanced scale in the UK and increased international reach and the Offer will enable Union Jack shareholders to participate in the future value creation of the Enlarged Group.

“In addition, having undertaken an extensive review of Union Jack’s strategic and financing options, and carefully considered the alternatives available, the board of Union Jack has concluded that no alternative proposal capable of providing the funding required on acceptable terms to execute Union Jack’s strategy is currently available.

“In the absence of such funding or the Offer, the board of Union Jack is of the view that Union Jack will, in the short term, be unable to meet its licence commitments, which in accordance with the licence terms, may result in the forfeiture of key assets within the Union Jack portfolio.

“The board of Union Jack believes that the Offer provides the only financing option to prevent this outcome and are therefore of the view that the Offer is in the best interests of shareholders.”

Reabold reaction

Reabold said the combined group was expected to benefit from “increased scale, broader asset exposure (including producing and development assets), improved access to capital and enhanced ability to progress key projects.

The deal would result in “operational and corporate efficiencies”, “optimised development planning across shared assets” and “more effective capital allocation”, Reabold said.

The chairman of Reabold, Jeremy Edelman, said:

“We believe the proposed combination with Union Jack represents a compelling opportunity for Reabold shareholders.

“It would create a larger, more diversified and better capitalised company with a strengthened UK onshore oil and gas platform, providing balanced exposure to producing and development assets, improved access to funding, and the potential to deliver long-term shareholder value through increased scale, operational efficiencies, strategic synergies and disciplined capital allocation.”

Details

The offer values Union Jack’s share capital at £6.14m.

On completion, the enlarged group will have a combined market capitalisation of about £17.80 million, today’s statement said.

Union Jack shareholders will be entitled to receive 0.051 new Reabold shares for every 1 Union Jack share. The offer valued Union Jack shares at 4.19p, based on the exchange ratio. The closing price of Reabold shares yesterday was 81.0p.

Union Jack shareholders are expected to own about 34.01% of the new group.

Reabold annual accounts

Reabold released its annual accounts yesterday (30/6/26) for the year ending 31 December 2025.

The company announced a loss for the period of £7.9m (2024: £3.4m loss). Administrative expenses were up from £2m in 2024 to £2.7m in 2025, reflecting consolidation of Rathlin into the group in January 2025. Exploration expenses fell by £0.3m to less than £0.1m in 2025.

Exploration and evaluation assets increased from £7m in December 2024 to £29m in Decembr 2025.