FRISCO, Texas, Aug. 19, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Ecoark Holdings, Inc. (“Ecoark”) (OTC: ZEST), announced the following strategic and operational updates.
National Exchange Uplist Initiative
On July 7, 2020, the company engaged Vinson & Elkins LLP (“V&E”) to advise on efforts to uplist Ecoark to a national stock exchange. In conjunction with the V&E engagement, Ecoark performed an internal analysis to select an exchange and prepare for the application process. On August 17, 2020, Ecoark submitted its initial listing application to the Nasdaq Capital Market.
“We are focused on successfully navigating the uplist process and positioning Ecoark for long-term success,” said Brad Hoagland, CFA, Principal Financial Officer of Ecoark. “We are excited to enlist a team of experts that will guide Ecoark through the process and help us deliver a complete, accurate, and thorough listing package.”
“Since last pursuing an uplist nearly 2.5 years ago, we have dramatically improved Ecoark’s financial position, and stand confident that the platform we have built and continue to develop is ready for a national exchange,” said Randy May, Chief Executive Officer of Ecoark. “We are eager to advance the process and continue to believe that uplisting will elevate our resource base, provide value to our stockholders, and afford Ecoark with a significantly greater platform to further execute on our growth initiatives.”
Rabb Resources Acquisition
Ecoark’s wholly owned subsidiary, White River E&P LLC (“White River”) has completed an acquisition of the assets of Rabb Resources, Ltd. (“Rabb Resources”), an oil producer in Louisiana, pursuant to an asset purchase agreement, dated August 14, 2020. Under the terms of the transaction, Ecoark has acquired various land, machinery and equipment, and approximately 150 barrels of oil per day (BOPD) in and around the Blackhawk oil field in Louisiana. The acreage is contiguous to Ecoark’s current Louisiana footprint, comprised of approximately 10,000 acres of deep drilling rights in Concordia Parish, Louisiana.
“I am extremely excited to join White River and the broader Ecoark family as we unlock further value from our asset base”, said Claude Rabb, Founder and President of Rabb Resources. “Leveraging more than 30 years of experience in the oil and gas industry in Louisiana and Mississippi, I have already begun advising on White River’s strategy of bringing additional shut-in wells from their recent Sanchez Energy acquisition back online to resume production”.
“The Rabb Resources acquisition increases our daily production to approximately 400 BOPD as originally communicated,” continued Randy May. “We are excited to be working with Claude and believe this acquisition is tremendously accretive to our footprint and expertise. We continue to expand our team, including the addition of a Downhole/Completions Engineer, formerly of Pioneer Natural Resources Company, who together with Claude and our growing operations team, further improve our expertise as we execute on our strategy. We are currently performing a procedure in the horizontal portion of one of our Tuscaloosa Marine Shale wells, and believe that those 4 wells have upwards of 4,000 BOPD of untapped production post-workover. We expect to achieve the remaining portion of our 1,000 BOPD target by the end of September through ongoing internal procedures within the acquired portfolio of shut-in wells from the Sanchez Energy acquisition.”
About Ecoark Holdings, Inc.
Founded in 2011, Ecoark is a diversified holding company. The company has three wholly owned subsidiaries: Zest Labs, Inc. (“Zest Labs”), Banner Midstream Corp (“Banner Midstream”) and Trend Discovery Holdings (“Trend Discovery”). Zest Labs, offers the Zest FreshTM solution, a breakthrough approach to quality management of fresh food, is specifically designed to help substantially reduce the amount of food loss the U.S. experiences each year. Banner Midstream is engaged in oil and gas exploration, production, and drilling operations on over 20,000 cumulative acres of active mineral leases in Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi. Banner Midstream also provides transportation and logistics services and procures and finances equipment to oilfield transportation services contractors. Trend Discovery invests in a select number of early stage startups each year as part of the fund’s Venture Capital strategy; we are open-minded investors with a founder-first mentality. Trend Discovery LP has an audited track record of uncorrelated outperformance of the S&P 500 since inception.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements related to our expectations with respect to the uplisting, including our ability to deliver stockholder value, the expected effect of the Rabb asset purchase on Ecoark’s footprint and expertise, the anticipated increase in the production capacity resulting from the Tuscaloosa Marine Shale wells workover, and the expected timing of achievement of production targets. The words “believe,” “may,” “estimate,” “continue,” “anticipate,” “intend,” “should,” “plan,” “could,” “target,” “potential,” “is likely,” “will,” “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to us, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements are based on management’s current expectations and beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions concerning future events. Such forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions, and other important factors, many of which are outside management’s control. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ from those in the forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, Ecoark’s common stock being approved for listing on the Nasdaq Capital Market and our continued ability to meet the ongoing listing requirements, the risks arising from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on our Company and the national and global economy, our ability to realize fully the anticipated benefits of the Rabb asset purchase, changes in applicable laws or regulations, fluctuations in oil and gas prices, and the possibility of adverse economic, business, and/or competitive factors. Additional risks and uncertainties are identified and discussed in Ecoark’s filings with the SEC, including the Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020. Any forward-looking statement made by us herein speaks only as of the date on which it is made. Additional factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.
Contact:
Investor Relations:
John Mills
ICR
646-277-1254
John.Mills@icrinc.com