http://www.gulfkeystone.com/ The firms exploration programme in Algeria is going well and "the shares look good value", say the Investors Chronicle. Your comments please. goal.

almost no mention of TK and his buddies having their noses deep in the trough, and THAT is why the need for additional NEDs, and of course TK will not like it one lttle bit

the appointment of extra NEDs would in no way impede the clearly strong relationship that TK and the GKP board have built up with the local hiearchy (banditry) ...... however, i do accept that additional institutions NEDs may well be obliged to stop the payment of the very necessary local "commissions" which are indeed fundamental to doing business in the region (and elsewhere in the world too!)

hmm! on reflection, not quite as simple a choice as would appear on the surface

almost no mention of TK and his buddies having their noses deep in the trough, and THAT is why the need for additional NEDs, and of course TK will not like it one lttle bit

the appointment of extra NEDs would in no way impede the clearly strong relationship that TK and the GKP board have built up with the local hiearchy (banditry) ...... however, i do accept that additional institutions NEDs may well be obliged to stop the payment of the very necessary local "commissions" which are indeed fundamental to doing business in the region (and elsewhere in the world too!)

hmm! on reflection, not quite as simple a choice as would appear on the surface

http://www.mandg.co.uk/-/media/Press%20Releases/RecoveryGKPfurtherstatementpdf.pdf

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Industry/article1287366.ece



THE battle for control of Gulf Keystone boiled over this weekend when the board of the £1.6bn oil explorer rejected a slate of new directors proposed by rebel shareholders.

The board, led by recently appointed chairman Simon Murray, the former foreign legionnaire, slammed the candidates. They recommended a “no” vote for all four, claiming they lacked “the track record of successful operational and commercial experience”.

The rebuff is a serious escalation of the fight between the company and the rebels. M&G, the fund giant that has led the rebellion alongside Capital Group, another big investor, yesterday reaffirmed its intention to push ahead with a shake-up.

It said: “M&G is not seeking representation on the board of Gulf Keystone, nor has any wish to interfere with its operations.

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Industry/article1286948.ece

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Companies/article1286970.ece

The Financial Times names Andrew Simon as one of the GKP NED candidates
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Mr. Andrew H. Simon, MBA, BSc, OBE served as the Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Evode Group PLC of Staffordshire from 1980 to 1983. Mr. Simon spent 23 years of his early career with Evode Group. He serves as the Non Executive Chairman of Germany's Kaffee Partner, Zeus Group Ltd. and Ascent Investments Ltd. He served as the Chairman at Azelis Italia SPA and Azelis S.A. He served as the Chairman of Evode Group at Staffordshire from 1980 to 1983. He served as the Chairman of Supervisory Board at Ascent Investments Ltd. He served as the Chairman of Meretec Corporation. He served as the Executive Deputy Chairman of Dalkia PLC. Mr. Simon has been a Non Executive Director of Travis Perkins PLC since February 20, 2006 and Management Consulting Group PLC since March 3, 2006. He serves as a Non Executive Director of Exova Group Limited. Mr. Simon has been a Director of Finning (Canada) Inc. since 1999. He serves as Advisor and Member of the Supervisory Board of several companies. He serves as a Member of the Supervisory Board/Director at Kaffee Partner Holding GmbH, Associated British Ports PLC, Brake Bros Ltd. (a/k/a Brake Brothers Ltd), and Dalkia UK PLC. He is also a Board Member of general partners within the iCON group of funds. He serves as a Non Executive Director of Dalkia PLC. Mr. Simon has been an Independent Director of Finning International Inc. since 1999. Mr. Simon has been a Member of the Supervisory Board of SGL Carbon SE (also called as SGL Carbon AG) since 1998. He serves as a Director of Ascent Investments Ltd., and Zeus Group Ltd. He served as a Director of Meretec Corporation. Mr. Simon served as a Director of Azelis Italia SpA and Azelis S.A. He served as a Non Executive Director of Associated British Ports Holdings PLC from November 1994 to April 26, 2006. Mr. Simon served as a Non Executive Director of Severn Trent PLC until July 26, 2002 and Hampson Industries PLC until June 30, 2003. He served as a Director of Ibstock PLC, Property Internet PLC and Laporte PLC. Mr. Simon studied Economics and Accountancy in Southampton. Mr. Simon holds an MBA from the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science from Southamption University.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/gulf-keystone-petrol--gkp-/rns/board-s-recommendation-to-shareholders/201307150700082897J/

C&P
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Full Times article:

Private investors look likely to settle the fate of the board at Gulf Keystone Petroleum after directors of the Iraqi Kurdistan oil explorer and a party of rebel investors failed to settle their differences over the weekend.
Todd Kozel, the chief executive, and Simon Murray, the former Glencore chairman who was installed as chairman of Gulf this month, are attempting to block a bid by M&G Recovery Fund and Capital Group, the US fund manager, to place four of their own appointees on the board.
The dispute is over corporate governance and claims by the rebels that directors’ pay has been excessive. The rebels speak for a little more than 10 per cent of the company, which is in the process of moving from AIM to a full listing.
But just over half of the shares are in the hands of private investors. The vote on whether the rebels’ candidates or the existing non-executives are appointed will go to the annual meeting in Bermuda on July 25.
Mr Kozel is extermely popular with those investors because he has taken Gulf Kurdistan from a penny stock to its current size on the back of a huge discovery in Kurdistan while navigating the complex political situation and the local bureaucracy.
By the end of this year the Shaikan field there will be producing at a level of 40,000 barrels of oil a day (bopd), with 150,000 bopd targeted within three years.
Both sides put out statements over the weekend after a meeting on Friday between the rebels and Mr Murray failed to reach agreement. M&G said it “is not seeking representation on the board of GKP, nor has any wish to interfere with the operations. But we do want the election of truly independent non-executive directors who will represent the interest of all shareholders.”
For its part Gulf Keystone singled out one of the four nominees for particular opprobrium. Jeremy Asher was the company’s deputy chairman until he fell out Mr Kozel over boardroom pay and was ejected in 2010.
The company’s statement accuses him of going behind the board’s back in contacting the authorities in Kurdistan over the proposed board changes, and claims that those authorities refused to meet him.
Commenting on Mr Asher’s contacts with the Kurdistan authorities, one source close to the situation said: “The institutional investors felt it was appropriate to give the KRG (The Kurdistan regional government) a ‘heads up’ and the KRG, quite properly, replied that shareholder and board matters were not their concern.
“We are concerned that Gulf Keystone’s statement could be read as implying that the KRG might seek to influence shareholders’ decisions on the board composition when the KRG have clearly and properly said the opposite.”
Gulf Keystone claims that Mr Asher, who along with two of the other three proposed non-executives is an oil industry veteran, is not independent because he owns 1.71 per cent of the shares. “The board believes that it would be inappropriate to reappoint to the board an individual who has previously been a disruptive presence on the board and who was removed on 31 March 2010.”
A company source at Gulf Keystone suggested the matter could be resolved by further negotiation before the annual meeting. “We’ve started the process of bringing in good people. The appointment of Murray signals that,” he said. “Maybe people will see sense and get in a room again.”

From W H Ireland this morning....

Market Cap £1.7bn Price 177p Target 315p
- Gulf Keystone has reiterated its opposition to the appointment of any of the non-executive director candidates suggested by M&G’s Recovery Fund which is seeking to exert its influence over the Board’s strategy. One of the candidates, Jeremy Asher (a former director of GKP), is not deemed suitable given his existing significant shareholding in the company (1.71%) by GKP.
- We believe the election of non-executives and the resolution of the litigation case with Excalibur which is anticipated towards the end of August could add at least 20p-30p/share to the current share price. Importantly, the company recently confirmed that it was on track for full development at Shaikan and we see this factor, along with the company achieving a main listing on the FTSE 250, as key drivers to re-rate this stock. BUY maintained.

since when has it not been in order for a NED to own shares?

surely the shareholders should be allowed to decide which directors they want on their board?

as far as i can see, that is why it is going to AGM vote

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/nils-pratley-on-finance/2013/jul/15/mandg-gulf-keystone-frustration

http://www.isn.ethz.ch/Digital-Library/Articles/Detail/?lng=en&id=166620

Powered by IST's"> Powered by IST's

From August 5 investors will have the freedom to buy shares in the junior market via a tax-efficient Isa.
Investors will be allowed to put shares in Britain's smallest listed companies into their Isa portfolios from next month, it has emerged.
The move to allow shares in companies listed on the Aim market was part of the Budget in March.
The investment industry had predicted the new rules would be introduced at the beginning of the tax-year next April, when savers get a fresh Isa allowance.
However, a date has now been set for August 5, according to a bulletin from the Tax Incentivised Savings Association, the industry body that has been working on the plans.
One of the main reasons the Government is relaxing the tax rules on investing in smaller company shares is the hope it will help boost business and aide the UK's economic recovery.
Putting shares into an Isa means that any returns and gains are tax-free. Outside of an Isa, each person gets an annual capital gains tax allowance, which is £10,600 this year. Cashed-in gains larger than that are taxed at up to 28pc, depending on your total taxable income.
Aim shares are attractive because small companies have large scope for growth. However, their shares are typically very volatile - so only suitable for experienced investors comfortable with taking risks.
Earlier this month, we revealed the Aim shares tipped by three of Britain's best stock-pickers ahead of the new rules.
Gavin Oldham, chief executive of trading website The Share Centre, said: “It’s great to see that Aim shares will be permitted in Isas as soon as August 5. Equity transactions in Aim-quoted companies already make up nearly a third of the activity of execution-only investors, and we anticipate an upsurge of demand for Isa-wrapped Aim shares from our customers after the rule-change.
"While investors’ decisions must be on their individual circumstances and risk appetites, the move allows investors to take advantage of a wider range of stocks offering both growth prospects and value."

http://news.sky.com/story/1117137/ex-bhp-boss-urged-to-heal-gulf-keystone-rift


By By Mark Kleinman, City Editor
A former executive at BHP Billiton, the world's biggest mining group, is being lined up to help break the bitter impasse between Gulf Keystone Petroleum, the London-listed oil explorer, and some of its biggest shareholders.

Sky News understands that Philip Aiken, who left BHP in 2006 after nine years running its petroleum and energy businesses, is being courted by Gulf Keystone directors in a bid to fend off reforms proposed by two major institutional investors.

Mr Aiken, a respected boardroom figure who chairs Aveva Group, the engineering data company, and sits on the board of National Grid, is understood to have been offered a role as a non-executive director at the Kurdistan-focused oil company.

As a non-executive director of Kazakhmys, the Kazakh mining company, Mr Aiken is accustomed to working with companies which have had governance concerns raised against them by independent shareholders........

Cooling it

It would be advisable for Gulf Keystone to reach a rapprochement swiftly with investors who have justifiable concerns over corporate governance standards at the oil exploration company.

Some of these featured in the widely-circulated “boiling frog email” penned by Richard Sneller, a Baillie Gifford fund manager. Here, he compared shareholders in Gulf Keystone to a frog that fails to hop out of a pan of boiling water because it cannot work out that its environment is becoming progressively more hostile.

The email, seen by Lombard, raises questions about financing, share awards to staff and the pace of oil production at wells in Kurdistan.

Baillie Gifford dumped its 2 per cent stake. But M&G has clung on, calling a vote to appoint four new independent directors. They include Jeremy Asher, an industry figure who left the board in 2010 after he objected to steep executive pay.

Chief executive Todd Kozel has strongly opposed Mr Asher’s reappointment. But with the result of the shareholder vote due to be announced next week, newly-appointed chairman Simon Murray will hopefully prove more statesmanly.

One solution would be for the board to endorse the M&G four and M&G to support a pair of independents put up by the board. The spat might then be ended to the credit of Mr Murray and M&G without a poached amphibian in sight.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/74694ccc-efb2-11e2-a237-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2ZSZMx6Vh

http://news.sky.com/story/1117854/gulf-keystone-close-to-ending-shareholder-row


Email

By Mark Kleinman, City Editor

The London-listed oil explorer Gulf Keystone Petroleum is on the brink of resolving a row with some of its leading shareholders with a deal that would avert a revolt against its new chairman.

Sky News understands Gulf Keystone is poised to announce that it will accept the nominations of four new independent directors to its board following a row over their credibility with investors led by M&G, the fund management arm of Prudential.

The quartet will include Jeremy Asher, a former director of the company, who quit the board several years ago after falling out with Todd Kozel, the chief executive.

Gulf Keystone recently labelled Mr Asher "a disruptive influence" and cast doubt on his professional credentials.

Under the proposed agreement, Gulf Keystone will also appoint at least two of its own candidates to join the board, including Philip Aiken, a former head of BHP Billiton's energy operations.

In return, the reform-minded shareholders, which also include Capital Research Global Investors, would agree to support the election of Simon Murray as Gulf Keystone's chairman, and the continued chairmanship of board committees by other directors.

The current chairman of the remuneration committee, Mehdi Varzi, and Ali al Qabandi, another non-executive director, would step down from the board, insiders said.

People close to the talks cautioned that the volatile nature of discussions in recent weeks between Gulf Keystone and its shareholders meant it was possible that the proposed deal could still fall apart.

If it does get signed off by the Gulf Keystone board, it would represent a welcome compromise for both sides in the wake of one of the ugliest corporate governance disputes at a major public company for some time.

Friday is the final day on which investors can submit votes for the annual meeting, which takes place in Bermuda later this month.

The rebel shareholders have been supported by a group of Malaysian investors and are confident that they will have sufficient backing to secure the election of their nominees.

Investors have long been unhappy with governance and pay at Gulf Keystone, which specialises in exploring for oil in Kurdistan but which has seen its share price fall sharply during the last year.

Mr Kozel has been a divisive figure at the helm of the company. People familiar with the situation said that his ex-wife, Ashley, was likely to use her roughly 17 million shares to vote against the company at the AGM.

Gulf Keystone has been one of the most controversially-governed companies on London's junior AIM market and scrutiny by shareholders has been intensified by the apparent intention to move its listing to the main market.

Mr Kozel's £8.8m award for 2012 actually represented a sharp decline on his pay in the previous year, which topped $22.2m (£14.4m).

Mr Kozel has sought to defend his remuneration by arguing that Gulf Keystone has delivered more than £1bn of value to shareholders and a return of more than 4,000% since the company's listing.

An ally of his said recently that the chairman's pay reflected an "overall balanced mix of remuneration and reflects exceptional performance for the year and confidence in future cash flows".

However, Gulf Keystone's shares have fallen sharply from highs triggered by takeover speculation, while it has also been embroiled in legal action brought by a former adviser which has claimed it is owed roughly £1bn in compensation.

Gulf Keystone declined to comment.

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"NO DENIAL"?

Just another source.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/gulf-keystone-close-ending-shareholder-row-094659511.html#M3of5Mi