Africa-focused energy company Kibo Energy on Wednesday announced that it had acquired a direct 100% interest in the shovel-ready Bordersley reserve power generation project, in the UK, sending its share prices on the JSE and LSE higher.

The Bordersley project will comprise a 5 MW gas-fuelled power generation plant and will be commissioned at the end of the first quarter of 2020.

Kibo's 60%-owned MAST Energy Developments (MED) subsidiary, which is focused on building an initial 100 MW portfolio of energy projects, will develop and manage the project.

The original MED vendors St Anderton on Vaal holds a 40% interest in MED and, therefore, held a 40% see-through economic interest in the Borderlsey project's cash flows.

Kibo has now acquired all of St Anderton’s direct and indirect interests in the Bordersley power project, giving it a 100% economic and 100% equity interest in Bordersley. In exchange, Kibo will issue St Anderton 46.07-million shares, payable in five tranches.

Kibo will also acquire 100% of the equity in the Bordersley special purpose vehicle from MED for £100 in cash. This is expected to result in a significantly positive impact on the balance sheet of Kibo as Bordersley is recognised in the accounts, the energy company said.

“We are delighted to take a direct 100% interest in Bordersley, having significantly derisked this shovel-ready site and met all our working capital requirements for the next 18 to 24 months.

"With the right partners also in place, including an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractor, owner's engineer and a power purchase agreement with Statkraft, we anticipate commencing commercial commissioning at the end of the first quarter of 2020; 100% of revenues generated from Bordersley will now flow to the Kibo bottom line and make a marked contribution to the group’s ongoing funding requirements,” Kibo CEO Louis Coetzee said.

Clarke Energy has been selected as the preferred EPC contractor and Encora Energy as the preferred owners engineer.

Kibo's share price on the JSE had risen by nearly 17% to 35c a share at 15:40 on Wednesday, while its share price on the LSE was trading up by nearly 31%.

Kibo is listed on the JSE's AltX and the LSE's Aim.