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Invictus Energy (ASX:IVZ) shares were down -30% heading into mid-arvo trades as the market hasn’t exactly liked the prospect of the Qatari royal family buying 50% of the company at 9.5cps, to which the price has plummeted on Wednesday, corresponding to the price of a capital raising earlier in the year after the Qatari announcement.

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Earlier this year, Invictus shares juiced hard when the long-struggling Zimbabwe-based oil and gas explorer announced it had entered into talks with a company owned by the Qatari royal family as that entity set its eyes on Africa’s not-yet-developed gasfields looking for the next big asset to keep the petrostate rolling.

The price popped to 16cps after years in the doldrums and climbed even higher still as Invictus shareholders, many of whom seem entranced by a cult of personality regarding the company’s top dog Scott Macmillan (affectionately called ‘Scotty’ by true believers), riled each other up on what it could mean for future gains.

What none of those discussions at the time included was a reality where the Qatari royal family would take a very-very-nearly controlling stake in the company at 9.5cps, quite a bit below the 16cps mark.

And of course, there’s still no guarantee it will happen at all. More than one HotCopper user pointed this out in the relevant announcement thread on Wednesday; to date, Invictus is comparable with Melbana Energy – a highly-watched, deeply-discussed, and often-troubled oil and gas explorer which never quite seems to meet its deadlines, never quite seems to get where it wants to go, but releases promising disclosures and bullish CEO commentary all the same. Year after year.

No commentary from Scotty on Wednesday, but the company did write: “Concurrent with finalising the AMOG partnership framework, the parties have been negotiating to provide an agreement structure pursuant to which AMH and certain other Qatari parties with a pathway to become a 50% shareholder of Invictus.”

“However, the Company can provide no guarantee that Invictus or AMH will conclude the new proposed agreement.” Go figure.

IVZ last traded at 9.6cps.

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