CONTROL of exploration company Kish Resources, whose shares have been suspended for almost a year, is to change as a result of a financial restructuring..

This will involve a syndicate of investors converting £1.64 million of debts into shares equivalent to 60 per cent of Kish's enlarged share capital.

The restructuring will see three current Kish directors - the chairman, Mr James Kenny and directors Mr David Naylor and Mr Nigel Anstey - resign, to be replaced by Mr Graham Dowland and Mr Jonathan Stewart.

Mr Dowland and Mr Stewart are directors of a London investment company, Waterford Finance & Investment, which will own 24 per cent of Kish after the restructuring.

A further 36 per cent of Kish will be owned by investors who have contributed to the restructuring.

While Waterford and its partners in the restructuring syndicate will have a combined 60 per cent stake, the rules governing the Exploration Securities Market do not require a mandatory bid once a shareholding is in excess of 29.9 per cent.

The terms of the restructuring will see Waterford provide a £250,000 loan for Kish, while the syndicate of investors will convert Kish's £1.64 million debt into 162.7 million new shares at a conversion rate of 1p per share.

This compares with the last traded price of 4p and will require an extraordinary general meeting to split Kish's existing nominal 5p ordinary shares into 1p ordinary shares and 4p deferred shares.

The loan and conversion of debt into equity will reduce Kish's liabilities from £2.1 million to £100,000.

This restructuring is almost a clone of the restructuring of Dana Resources three years ago, in which both Mr Dowland and Mr Stewart were involved through two other companies.

The restructured Dana was subsequently successfully reversed into TM Oil.

Mr Dowland said yesterday that, assuming the restructuring was approved by Kish shareholders, then it was planned to acquire a producing petroleum assets by early next year, with the cost of such an acquisition being met by a share issue underwritten by Waterford.

He said that the restructured Kish would probably look to eastern Europe for such an acquisition but could also look at prospects in Canada, Australia and south east Asia.