Gulf Keystone We now have a debt burden of at least $50m a year diluted the shares by 4pc
Gulf Keystone activists seek boardroom reshuffleMore than 100 unhappy Gulf Keystone investors have formed a shareholder action group to demand "positive change" at the company's AGM in July.
A breakaway faction of Gulf Keystone retail investors are holding the Iraqi oil explorer's corporate governance to account
Activist investors in Gulf Keystone Petroleum have set up an action group to prepare several motions for the annual general meeting, which is expected to see a major shake-up of the colourful oil explorer’s board.
Formed in the past fortnight, the group already has more than 100 members, who want to see “positive change in the way the company is managed”, after shares plunged from a peak of 465p in 2012 to close at 102p on Friday.
The rebel retail investors are unhappy about the remuneration of the company’s controversial chief executive, Todd Kozel, who was paid $13.6m (£8.0m) in 2012, despite ongoing losses.
They are also dissatisfied with the recent downgrade of Gulf Keystone’s oil assets and recovery percentages, and last month’s $250m debt financing to fund development work in the company’s principal acreage in Iraqi Kurdistan.
A source close to the shareholder group told The Daily Telegraph: “The management has diluted the shares by 4pc and raised $250m of debt. We now have a debt burden of at least $50m a year.”
The dissident shareholders, who have set up an invitation-only online discussion forum, have not yet reached consensus on the motions they will put forward at this year’s general meeting, expected to be held in Paris in mid-July.
But news of their plotting comes as the company was forced to deny reports that Mr Kozel is being edged towards the door, following internal rows over executive pay and shareholder returns.
The Daily Telegraph also understands that the action group, which will be represented at the AGM, has the support of major institutional investors.
Shortly before last year’s shareholder meeting in Bermuda, Gulf Keystone’s two largest shareholders, M&G Investments and Capital Research Global Investors, installed four non-executive directors to avert widespread rebellion.
Gulf Keystone declined to comment. |
