AFREN PLC (Reuters) - Oil producer Afren Plc (>> Afren Plc) said it had ended talks with Nigeria's Seplat Petroleum Development Co Plc (>> Seplat Petroleum Development Company PLC) over a potential sale of the company.
Afren, which has most of its oilfields in Nigeria, said it had not received any proposal from Seplat that it believed could be implemented on satisfactory terms.
Seplat confirmed that it did not intend to make an offer.
Afren has lost about 95 percent of its market value, or more than 1.6 billion pounds ($2.5 billion), since the end of July, hit by a slump in oil prices, the dismissal of top executives and the absence of proven or probable reserves at a field in Iraqi Kurdistan.
The company had about $1.15 billion in gross debt as of September and said in January that its liquidity was much lower than the $235 million that it held in cash at the end of 2014.
Two credit rating agencies have warned of an imminent risk of the company's default.
Afren said on Friday that it remained in talks with creditors for its immediate funding needs.
The company's stock was up 8 percent at 7.99 pence, having earlier fallen to 4.077 pence, slightly above the record low hit last month.
(Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Robin Paxton)
