Blank Check Energy IPO: United Refining Energy Corp

United Refining Energy Corp (UREC) is a blank check company that tends to focus in the energy industry.

All quotations are from the company’s most recent S-1 filing with links provided.

United Refining Energy Corp (UREC)
Business Overview (from prospectus)

United Refining Energy Corp. is a newly organized blank check company formed for the purpose of acquiring, through a merger, capital stock exchange, asset acquisition or any other similar business combination, an unidentified operating business or assets in the energy industry, with a particular focus on business or assets involved in the refining of petroleum products, and specialized products (such as petrochemicals) and services to the energy industry but will not be limited to pursuing acquisition opportunities only within that industry.

We were formed and organized by United Refining, Inc., our initial stockholder and to which we refer as our sponsor, a wholly-owned subsidiary of United Acquisition Corp., a Delaware corporation, which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Red Apple Group, Inc., a Delaware corporation controlled and wholly-owned by John A. Catsimatidis, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. United Refining, Inc. is also the parent of United Refining Company, a Pennsylvania corporation, which is the leading integrated refiner and marketer of petroleum products in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania with revenues for the fiscal year ended August 31, 2006 in excess of $2.4 billion.

Offering: 50 million units (1 unit consists of 1 share of common stock and 1 warrant) at $10.00 per share. Net proceeds of approximately $381,150,000 will be used

for due diligence, legal, accounting, fees and expenses of the acquisition including investment banking fees, and other expenses, including structuring and negotiating business combination, as well as a possible down payment, reverse break up fees (a provision in a merger agreement which requires a payment to the target company if the financing for an acquisition is not obtained), lock-up or “no-shop” provision (a provision in letters of intent designed to keep target businesses from “shopping” around for transactions with other companies on terms more favorable to such target businesses), if necessary, to bear the costs of liquidation if in the event we are unable to effect a business combination by , 2009 [24 months from the date of this prospectus]. While we do not have any current intention to use these funds as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision with respect to a particular proposed business combination, if we were to enter into such a letter of intent where we paid for the right to receive exclusivity from a target business, the amount that would be used as a down payment or to fund a “no-shop” provision would be determined based on the terms of the specific business combination and the amount of our available funds at the time. Our forfeiture of such funds (whether as a result of our breach or otherwise) could result in our not having sufficient funds to continue searching for, or conducting due diligence with respect to, potential target businesses. In addition to the use of funds described above, we could also use a portion of these funds to pay fees to consultants to assist us with our search for a target business. We believe that the interest income will be sufficient to cover the foregoing expenses.

Lead Underwriters: Deutsche Bank, Maxim Group

Financial Highlights:

We are not presently engaged in, and we will not engage in, any substantive commercial business for an indefinite period of time following this offering. We intend to utilize cash derived from the proceeds of this offering, our capital stock, debt or a combination of these in effecting a business combination. Although substantially all of the net proceeds of this offering are intended to be applied generally toward effecting a business combination as described in this prospectus, the proceeds are not otherwise being designated for any more specific purposes.