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Gold/Mining/Energy : Canadian Oil & Gas Companies -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: S Shaw who wrote (7917)	1/26/2001 1:11:44 PM
From: Richard Saunders	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 24910

scott - MGY Magin & Africa? I think you're mistaken & I'm not sure what company you're getting mixed up with. A great source for historical stuff is the cdn. equivalent of EDGAR, it's called SEDAR and here's a link to MGY filings. Especially useful are Annual Information Forms (AIFs) sedar.com As can be seen, Magin originally was incorporated back in 1986 as KYBER RESOURCES INC. and in 1994 new mgmt./directors became involved and changed things -- including the name -- to Magin. At that time production was about 19 boepd. Between then and now acquisitions have also assisted in creating the current situation. Some of the acquisitions have included things like Equis Energy Corp., Denergy Limited, Discovery West Corp., Torrington Resources Ltd. and Auburn Exploration Ltd. Offshore Africa was not part of the picture. Possibly pure trivia for you -- a couple of BEC guys (Wilson the VP Corp. Development & MacRitchie the VP Finance/CFO) were with Equis at time of Magin's Plan of arrangement in 1996 to acquire Equis & Discovery West. The major transaction for BEC which moved the thing from a junior capital pool co. (Gold Butte Resources) to renamed Belair included $1.3mil. of properties in a holding co. (Holdco) that were obtained from Discovery West. Same old theme...... oilberta is a small world & many of the fish either eat or get eaten.

To: S Shaw who wrote (7917)	2/3/2001 7:55:13 PM
From: Richard Saunders	Respond to of 24910

e. scott - off topic. offshore africa. Noticed this posting by Tomas on the "Strictly Drilling" thread which links to some backgrounders regarding offshore Africa hopefuls. =-=-=-=-=-= #reply-15293778 West Africa Elephants Abound. Angola Hottest of the Hot Offshore Explorer for February 2001 aapg.org

To: S Shaw who wrote (7917)	11/23/2001 10:51:26 AM
From: Richard Saunders	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 24910

off topic - some smiling faces..... ML brokers going to CIBC Wood Gundy News from The Globe and Mail Merrill brokers await the lottery Andrew Willis 00:00 EST Friday, November 23, 2001 TORONTO -- Lottery-sized windfalls await Merrill Lynch & Co. Inc.'s top stockbrokers as they are sold to Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, while the bank's own financial advisers stand to do well by simply doing nothing. CIBC bought Merrill's 1,000-stockbroker retail network and its money management operations late Wednesday in a deal worth up to $600-million. With rivals already wooing top producers at both Merrill and CIBC Wood Gundy, the stock brokerage arm of CIBC, the Toronto-based bank moved swiftly yesterday to ensure its financial advisers -- new and old -- do not walk away. "We recognize how hard the last weeks have been for everyone affected, and it's critical for us to ensure there's no disruption of service for our clients, and the way to do that is to take very good care of all our people," said Gerry McCaughey, head of CIBC's wealth management group. Yesterday, CIBC Wood Gundy head Thomas Monahan rolled out details of how the bank will take care of its brokers. He made comforting noises about keeping branches intact, and letting the brokers decide which clients they should serve. That means abandoning an unpopular Merrill initiative to move small clients, with less than $50,000 in assets, into a service provided by call centres. But the main focus for the stockbrokers was on a retention package that could be worth $270-million, a price that has to be added to what CIBC will pay Merrill. In this scheme, the rich get richer. Of Merrill's 1,000 advisers, about 75 individuals last year made more than $1-million in total commissions, while about a dozen superstars pulled in more than $2-million. These top stockbrokers took home about 50 per cent of the revenue they generated, an amount the advisers refer to as their net commissions. Under the new deal, CIBC will pay the best Merrill advisers a one-time retention bonus equal to 110 per cent of their take-home pay last year. In other words, a million-dollar producer would receive a cheque for $550,000, while the stars who generate $2-million or more will bank $1.1-million and up. The bonus payments get smaller as the stockbroker's previous year's commission drops. But at the bottom end of the scale, an adviser still gets 60 per cent of last year's net commissions. The bonus will be paid in the form of a five-year loan. Each year, 20 per cent of the loan is forgiven. So for a Merrill stockbroker, there's a steep penalty to be paid for quitting CIBC. Sources familiar with Toronto-Dominion Bank's rival bid said it contemplated paying the top Merrill advisers the same amount, while offering the least productive advisers a package half that size. In addition to the CIBC money, Merrill stockbrokers are getting a retention bonus from their U.S. parent to keep them around until the sale closes. These payments are said to be worth a total of $20-million. "Reluctantly, I've got to say Gundy is doing it right. They recognize this purchase means nothing if the people don't come over, or stay," said the head of a rival dealer's retail division, who is attempting to grab Merrill advisers. To keep its own retail sales force of 725 brokers happy, CIBC is giving them shares in the bank. The size of the package depends on length of service and measures such as assets under management and commission revenues. But in broad terms, Wood Gundy stockbrokers can look forward to receiving a chunk of stock that might range from 30 to 60 per cent of last year's take-home pay. The CIBC stock will be vested, which means it can be sold, starting in three years. In the meantime, the brokers can collect dividends. CIBC stock price is up 40 per cent in the past three years. "Gundy brokers who weren't contemplating going anywhere, yet suddenly find they're in line for this payout -- they must feel they've died and gone to heaven," said the president of another brokerage. "This kind of incentive is going to cause chaos at the other dealers, because everyone is going to want money to stay put."