Bowleven Share Discussion Threads

[ctc1] 15/3/2017 13:48

CO stymied on a number of fronts it seems.

[winnet] 15/3/2017 13:48

who are COCs beneficial owners?

[alamaison5] 15/3/2017 13:47

good bloody riddance i say x 10!

[ihavenoclue] 15/3/2017 13:28

Benji ... fair enough ... yes the price would be lower but now that we have the leeches removed from the board the cash drain will be significantly reduced so will be able to wait and be in a stronger position at the end of it :)

[dalem2uk] 15/3/2017 13:19

VOG RNS out confirming only they can terminate the new agreement with BLVN due to the board changes.

[benjimun] 15/3/2017 12:55

Ihave....

Well alot is perspective COC did put in a caveat thet they would listen to any offers prior to etinde development. Selling etinde prior to appraisal to me would be a low price.
My comment was more along the lines that it would appear that Pi's were suspicious of COC motives and seem 'engaged' as to the future direction of the commpany. I suspect that any offer for the assets 'as is' would be rejected.

[hernando2] 15/3/2017 12:43

hxxps://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/za/Documents/governance-risk-compliance/ZA_TheRoleOfTheChairmanAsWellAsValueOfANonExecutiveChairman_04042014.pdf

Ion fact i would argue that he has ben in dereliction of his duties as described in this report...

[benjimun] 15/3/2017 12:42

Winnet,
I agree COC having a clear mandate to carry out their plans is looking weak, they do not have the votes at board level to implement what they want. Taking out the COC votes the PI's gave a clear mandate opposed to the plans, despite what some vocal posters here might say.
If Billy does not play ball then COC essentially have a presence on the board monitoring their investment, interesting times ahead.

[ihavenoclue] 15/3/2017 12:39

Benjimun
15 Mar '17 - 12:28 - 15707 of 15707 1 0

It is clear that they will not be able to get Etinde sold at a low price.

====================

It was only some posters that suggested here and on other boards ... never by CoC.

[hernando2] 15/3/2017 12:37

Billy can't...he is a non-executive chairman..

[benjimun] 15/3/2017 12:28

Hernando,
This is where things will get interesting, Billy will be quite happy to give COC a bloody nose by running BLVN as an oil and gas company rather than a shell and not returning cash as muted by COC. It is clear that they will not be able to get Etinde sold at a low price.
I would be happy with that also, if Billy has the support of II's then and a new CEO is recruited I would be happy for producing assets to be purchased and develop etinde.
This might well get more II's back on board now KH is out and a re-reate might well occur.
It ould be interesting to see what COC would do, if a respected CEO came in would COC hold long term as per their value investor credentials, indeed they could offload their shares to II's for anice result for them.

[belo horizonte] 15/3/2017 12:22

Maybe Billy will make himself Executive Chairman, after all he has the deciding vote.. :). But seriously, someone has to make decisions even in a company with only minority holdings and Billy is as good as anyone for that.

[sivadnoj] 15/3/2017 12:10

Crown are pretty clear that they have been given a mandate to do what they said they would. Good luck to them.

"Crown Ocean Capital P1 Ltd ("Crown Ocean"), a private investment company, which is the beneficial owner of 22% of the outstanding issued ordinary share capital of Bowleven PLC ("Bowleven" or "the Company"), notes that all but one of the resolutions put by Crown Ocean to the General Meeting of Bowleven shareholders, held yesterday, have been passed.


Crown Ocean would like to thank fellow shareholders for the support they have shown for change in leadership and direction at the Company. Shareholders have provided the new board with a clear mandate to implement a new strategy as outlined in Crown Ocean's Open Letter to Bowleven Shareholders of 15 February 2017".

[slipanchor3] 15/3/2017 12:07

This is a good vote for BLVN shareholders and the narrow majority send a message to COC that we can and will exercise our right to vote.

It also sends a message out to the management of other AIM listed companies that they
are paid to produce value for shareholders and not to use company assets as a cash cow for their self-serving lifestyles.

[winnet] 15/3/2017 12:06

Only Exec left is Clarkson. So i guess the vision is whatever Clarkson says it is!

[hernando2] 15/3/2017 11:50

Its all speculation, hart i would argue that the current strategy was his vision, with the board and the chairman falling in behind it. After all thats what normally happens in a company.

Hart was voted out and so IMO his strategy / vision was as well.

So a new vision needs to be put in place. It is not the chairman that drives the strategy and vision it is the Chief executive.

So it seems to me that the new vision is the COC vision.

[winnet] 15/3/2017 11:39

I'm guessing that COC will be looking for a return of surplus cash to shareholders, which would obviously release a big chunk of their investment.

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I'm not sure they will be allowed to do this. In fact, I am certain that Clarkson and Allen will not be doing this.

[wshak] 15/3/2017 11:37

le_comm,

In reality, I don't think COC will be that patient.

I suspect that there'll be a short period of due diligence to check what the maximum cash requirements for BLVN will be going forwards for a couple of years. After that is established, I'm guessing that COC will be looking for a return of surplus cash to shareholders, which would obviously release a big chunk of their investment.

Failing that, I can easily see a situation where they sell their shares to an interested party in Etinde to give themselves a clean exit at a very healthy profit. If such a move should occur, it'll be interesting to see what the shares are priced at.

[maurillac] 15/3/2017 11:31

yes publishing the votes without coc was absolutely childish - tells you all you need to know about the outgoing bod. good bloody riddance i say .......
cannot believe that coc can be any less competent than that lot ...
m

[le_commissaire] 15/3/2017 11:30

Waseem

So you still think or have confidence in COC willing to leave their current investment of 22% of the share capital exposed to a reasonably long wait to monetisation of Etinde?
With Billy retained i personally believe that any cash return will be strictly controlled as he always stated the importance of a healthy cash balance for 'opportunities' even though they missed about 50 last year :)

I do not know the answer to that one and i do value your opinion.

[wshak] 15/3/2017 11:27

fft,

Sure, anyone can approach COC to see what they'd vote for in terms of an Etinde sale at a particular price but, as we've already seen, it would have to be a price that the majority of BLVN shareholders agree with. COC can influence a sale with their votes but, as we've seen, even 22% isn't big enough as a controlling block.

[wshak] 15/3/2017 11:24

le_comm,

To wish to sit on the cash, maybe a divi and wait for Etinde seems a little strange to me as an investable proposition.

Maybe, but if we'd one that (as I wanted to after the Etinde farm-out), we'd be $100m better off, as well as saving on G&A costs since then.

BLVN lost the right to behave as a normal O&G company might do many years ago. It's an asset play now, and I'm comfortable with that, which is why I voted in favour of the resolutions.

I'd prefer to use my own judgement in which assets to invest in elsewhere so - if there is any surplus cash to do that with - I'd want it returned to me. If there isn't surplus cash, then they obviously shouldn't invest any in new projects.

[fft] 15/3/2017 11:23

wshak,

but any potential buyer would like to know what the largest shareholders thoughts on the situation would be. Also being known as an activist shareholder, with potential string pulling - hard to believe new directors will be 100% independent of a nudge or thought from COC - appears to make COC the go to people for any deal.