HOUSTON, Dec. 31, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Transmeridian Exploration Incorporated (AMEX:TMY) today announced that the Company and Trans Meridian International, Inc., a British Virgin Islands company formed by the Company's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Lorrie T. Olivier ("TMI"), have entered into a definitive merger agreement pursuant to which TMI, through a wholly owned subsidiary, will commence a tender offer to purchase all of the Company's outstanding shares of common stock for a price of $3.00 per share, payable net to the seller in cash. The purpose of the tender offer is to acquire for cash as many outstanding shares as possible of the Company's common stock as a first step in a "going private" transaction resulting in TMI acquiring the entire equity interest in the Company. If the transaction is completed, TMI contemplates that the shares of the Company's common stock would be delisted from trading on the AMEX and deregistered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The $3.00 per share cash consideration represents a 114% premium over the $1.40 closing price of the Company's common stock on December 28, 2007, the last full trading day prior to announcement of the transaction, and implies an enterprise value of the Company of approximately $825 million. The Company's disinterested directors have unanimously approved the merger agreement and tender offer and will recommend that the Company's stockholders tender their shares into the offer and vote for the back-end merger, if required.
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