An oil and gas exploration business has announced plans to sell its Italian drilling sites.

Sound Energy, which has its headquarters in Sevenoaks, has entered a conditional agreement with Saffron Energy, a gas production business.

The deal is subject to Saffron raising enough money to run its new business and gaining its shareholders’ approval.

If all goes ahead, Sound Energy will receive 185.9 million shares in Saffron, which will be renamed Coro Energy plc.

The company will also receive a royalty of 5% on all revenue from any well drilled on a licence known as the “Laura” project.

Sound Energy made a decision to focus on Mediterranean onshore gas in 2011, disposing of its Indonesian assets.

It gained its first gas in Italy in 2013 and bought land for its Badile exploration in the Po Valley in northern Italy.

It gained approval for the exploration in 2016, sending its share price rocketing 470% to a high of 96.3p.

It began drilling last spring but its share price has fallen by about a third after the results of the exploration were reportedly disappointing.

The company will contineu to focus on its explorations in north Africa, having begun exploring onshore gas at Tendera in Morocco in 2015.