Afren ends talks with Seplat Petroleum over potential sale

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Feb 13 (Reuters) - Oil producer Afren Plc (LSE: AFR.L - news) said it has ended talks with Nigeria's Seplat Petroleum Development Co 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 believes could be implemented on "satisfactory" terms.

Seplat has until 1700 GMT on Friday to announce whether or not it intends to make an offer. Afren said it would not agree to the Nigerian company's request to extend this deadline.

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, only slightly above the record low hit last month. ($1 = 0.65 pounds) (Reporting by Abhiram Nandakumar in Bengaluru; Editing by Kirti Pandey and Robin Paxton)