A deal with a domestic Ukrainian company could help it resolve these issues.

However, the initial 24pc offer from Energees saw some shareholders outraged
that a powerful company could pick up the business at such a depressed
price. The shares were at 31.25p before trading was suspended last month.

Keith Henry, Regal’s chairman, yesterday told shareholders: “Against the
background of operational, legal and funding challenges faced by the
company, your board is pleased to have reached a much improved agreement
with Energees management.”

Shareholders now face a “substantially increased cash element”, as
well as the option of keeping an equity stake in Regal, he said. February 20
is the deadline for the offer, which has already received anti-trust
clearance from the Ukrainian authorities, the companies said.

Meanwhile Smart Holding Group said that it hopes that keeping part of Regal
listed in London will help build its own reputation with international
investors, ahead of a possible public sale of shares in Metinvest Holding,
the Ukrainian steelmaker in which it is a major shareholder. Denis Rudov,
Smart’s chief financial officer, told Bloomberg: “The sooner we start
building a track record in the public markets the better.”

Shares in Metinvest will be offered for public sale “at some point in
time,” he said.

Regal, formerly chaired by colourful businessman Frank Timis, has managed to
escape its controversial past, when its share price crashed 86pc in one day
on disappointing results in 2005. This led to a £600,000 fine from the
London Stock Exchange in 2009 for “systematic” breaches of rules
involving misleading statements. However, the company has been dogged by
political uncertainty in Ukraine, where Western companies have largely
withdrawn.

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