George Frangeskides, Chairman at ALBA, explains why the Pilbara Lithium option ‘was too good to miss’. Watch the video here.
6. CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST sponsors or voting service providers should
note that EUI does not make available special procedures in CREST for any particular messages.
Normal system timings and limitations will therefore apply in relation to the input of CREST Proxy
Instructions. It is the responsibility of the CREST member concerned to take (or, if the CREST
member is a CREST personal member or sponsored member or has appointed a voting service
provider(s), to procure that his or her CREST sponsor or voting service provider(s) take(s)) such
action as shall be necessary to ensure that a message is transmitted by means of the CREST system
by any particular time. In this connection, CREST members and, where applicable, their CREST
sponsors or voting service providers are referred, in particular, to those sections of the CREST
Manual concerning practical limitations of the CREST system and timings.
71853087-6
7. The Company may treat as invalid a CREST Proxy Instruction in the circumstances set out in
Regulation 35(5)(a) of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001.
8. Pursuant to Regulation 41 of the Uncertificated Securities Regulations 2001, only shareholders
registered in the register of members of the Company as 2 p.m. on 28 September 2020 (or in the
event of any adjournment, at 2 p.m. on the day which is two days (excluding non-business days)
before the date fixed for the adjourned meeting) shall be entitled to attend and vote at the AGM
in respect of the number of shares registered in their name at such time. Changes to the register
of members after the relevant times shall be disregarded in determining the rights of any person
to attend and vote at the meeting.
9. As at 4 September 2020 (being the latest practicable date prior to the publication of this
document), the Company’s issued share capital comprises 1,287,536,163 ordinary shares of £0.01
each. The total voting rights of the Company as at 4 September 2020 are 1,287,536,163. If the
resolutions to be proposed at the Company's general meeting on 7 September 2020 are all passed,
and following the issue of the Placing Shares as detailed in the circular accompanying the notice
of the general meeting on 7 September 2020, the Company's issued share capital is expected to
comprise 1,539,202,843 ordinary shares of 0.01 pence each (carrying one vote each) and
1,287,536,163 deferred shares of 0.99 pence each (carrying no voting rights) at expected
admission to trading of the Company's ordinary shares on 8 September 2020.
10. A corporation which is a member can appoint one or more corporate representatives who may
exercise, on its behalf, all its powers as a member provided that no more than one corporate
representative exercises powers over the same share.
Notes to the AGM Notice
1. Given the current Coronavirus (COVID-19) situation, and to ensure adherence to current
Government requirements, attendance in person at the meeting will not be possible this year.
Shareholders are requested to appoint the Chairman of the meeting as their proxy as any other
person so appointed will not be permitted to attend the meeting. The below notes are to be
read subject to this COVID-19 related proviso.
2. Members are entitled to appoint a proxy to exercise all or any of their rights to vote on their behalf
at the meeting. In the case of joint holders, where more than one of the joint holders’ purports to
appoint a proxy, only the appointment submitted by the most senior holder will be accepted.
Seniority is determined by the order in which the names of the joint holders appear in the
Company’s register of members in respect of joint holdings (the first-named being the most
senior). A Form of Proxy which may be used to make such appointment and give proxy instructions
accompanies this Notice.
3. To be valid, the Form of Proxy must be received by the Company’s registrars, Share Registrars
Limited, The Courtyard, 17 West Street, Farnham, Surrey, GU9 7DR, or scanned copies sent via
email to the following address: voting@shareregistrars.uk.com with 'Active Energy Group Plc –
Form of Proxy' in the subject line, not less than 48 hours (excluding non-business days) before the
time appointed for the holding of the meeting.
4. CREST members who wish to appoint a proxy by utilising the CREST electronic proxy appointment
service may do so for the AGM and any adjournment(s) of it by using the procedures described in
the CREST Manual. CREST personal members or other CREST sponsored members, and those
CREST members who have appointed a voting service provider, should refer to their CREST
sponsor or voting service provider, who will be able to take the appropriate action on their behalf.
5. In order for a proxy appointment made by means of CREST to be valid, the appropriate CREST
message (a “CREST Proxy Instruction”) must be properly authenticated in accordance with
Euroclear UK & Ireland Limited’s (EUI) specifications and must contain the information required
for such instructions, as described in the CREST Manual. The message must be transmitted so as
to be received by the company’s agent, Share Registrars Limited (CREST Participant 7RA36) by the
latest time(s) for receipt of proxy appointments specified in this notice of meeting. For this
purpose, the time of receipt will be taken to be the time (as determined by the timestamp applied
to the message by the CREST Applications Host) from which the Company’s agent is able to
retrieve the message by enquiry to CREST in the manner prescribed by CREST.
Ordinary Resolutions
1. TO receive and adopt the audited accounts for the year ended 31 December 2019, together with
the reports of the directors and the auditors thereon.
71853087-6
2. TO re-appoint as a director of the Company, Maxwell Aitken, who was appointed during the period
and retires in accordance with the Company’s articles of association and, being eligible, offers
himself for re-appointment.
3. TO re-appoint as a director of the Company, Jason Zimmerman, who was appointed during the
period and retires in accordance with the Company’s articles of association and, being eligible,
offers himself for re-appointment.
4. TO re-appoint as a director of the Company, James Leahy, who was appointed during the period
and retires in accordance with the Company’s articles of association and, being eligible, offers
himself for re-appointment.
5. TO re-elect as a director of the Company, Michael Rowan, who retires in accordance with the
Company’s articles of association and, being eligible, offers himself for re-appointment.
6. TO re-appoint Jeffreys Henry LLP as the Company’s auditors until the next Annual General Meeting
and to authorise the directors to fix their remuneration.
7. THAT, pursuant to the provisions of section 551 of the Companies Act 2006 (the “Act”) the
directors of the Company be and are hereby generally and unconditionally authorised (in addition
to and not in substitution for any previous authorities conferred upon the directors of the
Company pursuant to section 551 of the Act and without prejudice to the allotment of any
relevant securities already made or offered or agreed to be made pursuant to such authorities) to
exercise all or any of the powers of the Company to allot or grant rights to subscribe for equity
securities (within the meaning of section 560 of the Act) of up to an aggregate nominal value of
£15,300, to such persons at such times and generally on such terms and conditions as the directors
of the Company may determine (subject always to the articles of association of the Company)
provided that this authority, unless it is (prior to its expiry) duly revoked or varied or renewed,
shall expire at the conclusion of the next annual general meeting of the Company or, if earlier, 15
months after the passing of this resolution, save that the directors of the Company may, before
such expiry, make an offer or agreement which would or might require equity securities to be
allotted after such expiry and the directors of the Company may allot equity securities in
pursuance of such offer or agreement as if the authority conferred hereby had not expired.
By Order of the Board REGISTERED OFFICE
27/28 EASTCASTLE STREET
LONDON
W1W 8DH
UNITED KINGDOM
Cargil Management Services Limited
Company Secretary
Dated 7 September 2020
https://www.aegplc.com/investors/corporate-documents/
Notice is hereby given that the Annual General Meeting of Active Energy Group PLC (the “Company”)
will be held as a closed meeting on 30 September 2020 at 2 p.m. for the transaction of the following
business:
IMPORTANT INFORMATION - IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON THE AGM
As a result of the ongoing Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic and considering the latest UK Government
measures on physical public gatherings, this year the Board is adopting a number of changes to the
traditional running of the Company’s AGM. The Company wishes to advise that, in order to limit the
risk of infection and protect the health and safety of shareholders and employees, the Board is
planning that the AGM this year will be a closed meeting and convened with the minimum quorum of
two shareholders present, in person or by proxy. Regrettably therefore, shareholders are requested
not attend the AGM to be held on 30 September 2020 and the Company will be unable to allow entry
to anyone seeking to attend the AGM in person. As noted below, Shareholders should instead vote by
proxy. Our advisers have also been requested not to attend.
The Company will convene the AGM with the minimum necessary quorum of two shareholders
present in person or by proxy. The Company will include all valid proxy votes (whether submitted
electronically or in hard copy form) in its polls at the AGM and the Chair of the meeting will call for a
poll on each resolution. The Company accordingly requests that shareholders submit their proxy votes
in respect of the resolutions as set out in this Notice, electronically or by post in advance, in accordance
with the instructions set out in this Notice.
In the spirit of transparency and engagement, should shareholders wish to ask any questions in
relation to the resolutions set out in the Notice of AGM, which they may otherwise have asked at the
AGM had they been in attendance, they are encouraged to contact the Company prior to the AGM by
email to aeg@camarco.co.uk. Please label your email with “AEG AGM Question” to enable swift
identification. We will endeavour to respond to all questions received. The Company also intends to
make a short presentation which will be made available for all shareholders at the AGM. This
presentation will also be made available on the Company’s website following the AGM.
Shareholders should submit their votes via proxy as early as possible, and shareholders are requested
to appoint the Chair of the meeting as their proxy. If a shareholder appoints someone else as their
proxy, that proxy will not be able to attend the AGM in person or cast the shareholder's vote.
To consider and, if thought fit, to pass the following seven resolutions (the “Resolutions”) which will
be proposed as Ordinary Resolutions.
Bantham your username reminds me of one of my most favourite places in the UK. Its so nice a recent acquaintance decamped his family to there breaking strict Covid 19 rules but allowing all to enjoy its beauty.
I must apologies if you think my recent posts went slightly off track & became a personal assault on MR but after speaking to ex-CoalSwitch team members & hearing their reports on MR caring approach it did somewhat ruffle my feathers.
My continued motivation has always been to get the very best for fellow shareholders & has clearly been seen at previous AGMs when I've held Directors to account. I've had absolutely no pleasure from doing this & its caused much damage to many good friendships. I also do not like using these chat boards "to air ones dirty linen" but when the CEO refuses to answer important questions in my emails & then uses COVID 19 restrictions as an excuse to not hold either an EGM before this vital vote or an AGM, so we can communicate face to face, I'm afraid you find yourself with no alternative. If MR only fear for not holding such meetings was to protect us all from the virus he could have easily conducted an online approach like what was used for the additional permits application public hearing & also is currently being adopted by other correctly managed PLCs.
You mentioned you started accumulating what is now a fairly substantial holding a couple of years ago at around the 2.5p level so that would have been soon after MR took over as CEO so like myself you've had to endure this very rocky & uncomfortable roller-coaster ride. If you read through my previous postings they were all positive & helping to promote AEG until February this year when my patience with MR & his continuing none response came completely off the rails. Please do not think I've now gone off on some uncalculated destructive unrequited rant in hope of gaining attention. My change simply coincided with the appointment of new much more highly talented NEDs & wanting to embrace their proven skills so to help propel us all more comfortably & finally in the correct direction. From today's RNS I think we can see the start of their good work with being awarded "The Green Economy Mark" which opens new more favourable routes to future funding.
I can see you are a well balanced investor & correctly ask what other options could MR have used. Well there were others including companies just like RMDE wanting to pay AEG for licensing agreements & would have provided much needed funds rather than MR preferred continued share dilution methods & further destroying his loyal shareholders value. I'm sure you are wise enough to see were this type of behaviour could lead but without wasting anymore time on speculating the what's where's & why's the votes are now in, being counted & I'm sure we will receive an updated early next week to who the new shareholders are along with the reasons for needing such a large 22% discount to get this investment placed.
Attending last years meeting & flying in specially from Salt Lake City were Phil Scalzo & representatives from Munro Lean Design engineering.
Phil led the team which designed & built the plant that's now sitting in pieces in Lumberton & needing this current round of funding to rebuild.
His expertise & experience from his days at Williams Energy Company in the USA were a very important factor while the to due diligence checks were being carried out to validate the technology ahead of signing the agreement to form the CoalSwitch partnership.
Phil was still very upset because of the way MR had removed him & his assistance from their positions while they were travelling on AEG business meeting potential important strategic partners in Malaysia. The timing left them with immense embarrassment & great difficulty returning back to the USA so Phil was very keen to hold MR to account for these actions.
Phil had continually challenge MR belief that the steam pipe from the GRP was capable to deliver the pressures needed to produce CoalSwitch & was part of the due diligence team MR refers to using before moving ahead & purchasing the site. He strongly advised MR from the moment the plant wasn't being placed on GRP land right next to the power plant it would need a steam boiler which meant extensive delays to obtain new additional permits & extra funding to secure a new boiler because the one used in Salt Lake had been rented. Rather than listening to the expert advise from the man who built the plant MR preferred to move forward with others who were blowing low pressure steam up somewhere the sun didn't shine.
Not wanting to cause a massive disruption which could be damaging to fellow shareholders value Phil was prepared to remain quiet as long as MR would verbally confirm at the official AGM that MR's thorough due diligence had shown the steam pipe was indeed capable of providing the required steam to produce CoalSwitch & should a shortfall be found then the permits which came when purchasing the site would then cover installing an additional boiler. Phil therefore knew this would be helpful to shareholders to hold MR to account when in the future this statement was proved factually incorrect at the time MR made it. I was tasked with asking that question & MR responded with a convincing yes all was good & correct.
It's also interesting to see even though MR carried out what can only be describe as a monumental sacking on Phil & one not even Alan Sugar would dare to try, he still very much values Phil Scalzo expertise & parades him to this day as being in one of the company's most senior positions as Chief Technical Officer & supplying duties under Corporate Governance principle Nine:Maintenance of Governance Structures and Processes.
https://www.aegplc.com/investors/corporate-governance/
Initially after the morale boosting investment lunch it seemed AEG was finally moving in the right direction with a number of quick RNS statements being released confirming MR was working to his plan.
It was always known legacy issues were needing to be reported in the Final Results for 2018 & these would be a disaster but with the continued positive ripple effect from the investors lunch shareholders were looking forward to the coming 2019 AGM.
A RNS released on 4th July 2019 giving the date of 29th July for the AGM was made but this contained 2 bits of information which immediately destroyed all confidence MR had built over the last few months. The first part was asking shareholders to vote on a special resolution to allow him to create another round of dilution but this time with a massive 999,151,000 new shares & at the lowest price he possibly could without getting the AOA changed. The second & even more disturbing was the announcement Simon Melling was resigning from his NED position which would allow MR to avoid his coming re-election vote at the AGM. With this sudden news being worlds apart compared to what shareholders were led to believe at the investor lunch into how future funding would be raised it created frenzied calls/meetings between significant/large shareholders. Important shareholders now felt they had been totally deceived by MR actions & his only motivation was to dilute their shareholdings to a point where they would have no further say. To prevent this from happening they would use the coming AGM so emergency calls/meetings then took place between these important shareholders/strategic partners & all members of the AEG board to establish a better understanding why such a sudden drastic approach to future funding needed to take place. During these talks common ground was reached which would prevent any disruption at the coming AGM in return for everyone agreeing the new candidate for Simon Melling NED replacement & although (because of time restraints) it would be impossible to have them appointed before the meeting it would happen ASAP afterwards.
Because of my heavy involvement in securing the CoalSwitch technology into AEG I was then contacted by these significant/large shareholders & asked if I would be prepared to return to continue the work I had carried out back in 2016 in developing licensing agreements & to also take a position on the Board. After holding conversation with MR & receiving his guarantees the stupid games I had endured previously were now all in the past I excepted the position. This led to the AGM passing without any major incidents & the start of my Director's Background Checks with the NOMAD SP Angel. Unfortunately it very soon became apparent the guarantees MR had given were only to get him through his potential AGM revolt & with stupid games once returning I notified the NOMAD my withdrawal on the 23rd September 2019.
At the shareholders morale boosting investment lunch questions were also asked into how the building of the 50 tph plant would be financed.
Because nearly all previous funding rounds had utilized the use of CLN & share placements attendees were concerned their continued use would only further deteriorate their holdings. Attention was drawn to why this method had just used to raise the US$2,250,000 for securing the Lumberton site especially when Michael Rowan (MR) had made a cash down payment of US$1,080,000 on a site with an independent valuation of US$4,550,000 therefore meaning he only needed to borrow less than 50% of the sites current market value. MR responded he wanted to secure the site as quickly as possible not only because it locked-in the excellent price he'd negotiated but more importantly it would substantially speed up the relocation/deployment of the 5 tph machine.
He agreed the use of CLN's are seen as a weaker way of raising funds but in this case the downside of further shareholder dilution was far outweighed by enabling him to propel the business forward far quicker. With AEG now owning their own massive fully permitted site right in the middle of the prestigious wood fiber basket of North Carolina & the 5tph machine running producing both important revenues along with total proof of concept he would easily be able to secure project financing terms for building the large 50 tph plant & better terms on any other future funding requirements.
Speed would now be the key driving factor & to show his rapid progress he referred to his RNS statement made the day before which showed to 5tph plant in Salt Lake City being loaded ready for transportation & the much smaller test reactors having already arrived & being installed. The transfer of all the equipment from the Company’s Utah site was targeted to be completed within 8 weeks, with closure of the Utah site expected by the end of May 2019. Specialist engineering teams were also currently assessing work needing to be done at Lumberton & hopefully everything would be completed by late Q3/early Q4.
I asked if I could take this new installation date "to the bank" & MR replied he was very sorry his previous expectations had slipped & that's why he knew he needed to complete thorough due diligence before buying the site & those checks had caused the delays so with them now completed no further mistakes would be made with AEG's future under his CEO leadership.
Also questions were raised to why communications between shareholders & the Board had been so difficult. A number of the attendees had written numerous letters requesting important information but had received little to no response. MR again assured this would now be a thing of the past with regular communication via RNS & rapid responses to future correspondences.
Thanks Bantham & Handwinder you've both made some very good points.
As promised I will continue to provide my own personal appraisal of Michael Rowan's CEO leadership because I think its important all shareholders get to see how their investments have been massively diluted under his management & especially at a time when he is again asking for permission to create even more new shares. However this time MR requires it to be done at a price way below where the current company's articles of association(AOA) allows at 1p & where the share-price was trading just a few weeks back. He is also asking for an amendment to the AOA to allow him more power to create even further shares to cover the costs of future potential bad due diligence & failed delivery times but now without even needing your consent. I agree the company needs additional funding to once again cover/survive his shortfalls but is throwing more good money after bad the correct way forward ????
Seattle mentions my opinions aren't worthy because I've not severed on a PLC Board which is totally true. But shouldn't you also look at the successes your current Board members have achieved on previous/current PLC Boards before allowing them such new & potentially dangerous powers. I certainly have done those checks & that's why I believe any new funding should only be allowed under the rule of a new CEO.
Seattle mentioning I've never served on a PLC Board also reminds me to earlier this year on valentines day when you attacked me on this LSE message board because I dare question how MR was running the company. I must say I was a little heart broken considering the day but you'll be glad to know I soon recovered from such disappointment. In your post you mentioned I had been rejected to join the Board of AEG & this explained my negativity towards MR. I did message you suggesting it would be sensible to remove your post because of it's inaccuracies/potential future actions & I would happily share with you the correct events when we next meet at either an EGM, AGM or shareholder morale boosting investment lunch. Unfortunately it fell on deaf ears & the post still remains which has only further deteriorated/damaged my good reputation. With no such meetings allowed because of the way MR intends to handle COVID-19 restrictions I think this may be an good time to share the correct chain of events not only to defend my good reputation but far more importantly to totally expose how MR conducts himself as our CEO & how his day to day working represent nothing like those presented under the Corporate Governance of the AEG website & for the returning good shareholder value to his investors.
(So to continue)
After much confusion to the location & who would be aloud to attend the shareholder morale boosting investment lunch we convened at Bangers Bar & Grill to discus the recent acquisition of the Lumberton site & to also hear the Directors provide an overview of the Company's growth strategy for the remainder of 2019. Because MR knew the type of questions he would be asked he prepared a booklet to help overcome the scepticism some attendees had developed from previous AEG failed promises. This can still be downloaded on the AEG website under Corporate Presentation 25th April 2019 on this link
https://www.aegplc.com/investors/corporate-documents/
With all the thoroughly in-depth due diligence now complete & returning successful results, allowing MR to proceed with the acquisition, questions were again asked to the capabilities of the GRP steam pipeline to handle the pressures needed for the production of CoalSwitch. MR again reassured all those stringent checks/calculations had been made & even if a topping up was needed the site was fully permitted to allow for quickly installing additional equipment which could include gas boilers. Because of previous management failed promises he was jokingly ask if he could put that in writing & he replied he happily would & better still that's exactly why he'd already included it in the presentation booklet & directed the group to page 8. He further explained this booklet contained the presentation he would be making to investment companies to raise the funds for the 50 tonnes per hour machine so everything had to be completely factually correct & he assured the group the old management ways were now a thing of the past & under his new leadership everything would now be done correctly. So there in a official company presentation document, which was being circulated to investment companies, it states the site is "fully permitted" not only to allow for the quick relocation of the 5 tph machine from Salt Lake City but also for the expansion up to 50 tph production capacity.
After receiving those guarantees questions were asked to why AEG had failed to secure the much hyped 10 million Euros EU funding & MR responded unfortunately a couple of the box's had been incorrectly completed leading it to be rejected at the very last stage but lessons had been learnt & he would immediately be resubmitting for the very next round so although delayed this exciting project wasn't lost. This statement was also repeated at the 2019 AGM & is now know to be totally incorrect.
Thank you to both Stifler & Seattle for your comments, but as explained I'm going to present my own personal appraisal of "AEG under Michael Rowan leadership" because I think it's very important all shareholders have a better understanding of his capabilities before they vote. Seattle you more than anyone know I attend all meetings asking the important difficult questions & am prepared to hold Directors to account when they present factually incorrect information. Because of this I've even been labelled by MR as the CoalSwitch oracle when he talks to fellow shareholders & tries to downplay/discredit my capabilities. All the information I'm going to share can be backed up with evidence & I will happily help direct you in the right directions so you to can fact check its content.
However on the 4th March 2019 we are informed MR did have the funds to go ahead & purchase the Lumberton site. His very stringent due diligence checks had all returned positive results & he was delighted to move forward with its acquisition. We are also assured the Lumberton Site is fully permitted for operations and the permits can be transferred to AEG upon completion of the Acquisition, thus reducing the time to market of the planned production of CoalSwitch.
MR announces on the 11th April AEG had been unsuccessful in receiving the EU grants but skips around the reason however to boost shareholder morale he was going to throw a London Investor Event on the 25th April 2019 so the Directors could present what a wonderful decision they had made.
Only 5 weeks later we are presented with a new update which starts to show the original Rowan master plan isn't moving forward as previously planned. Rather than the CoalSwitch plant being relocated onto the GRP site & right next to the critically important steam supply he now intends to acquire land/factory facility adjacent to GRP with a steam pipe connection. No figures were available for purchasing this site because due diligence was being carried out but it would require additional funding. MR also still worryingly believed the company remained on schedule to commence commercial production of CoalSwitch even though he had just reported a delay from the original end 2018 until now early 2019. Conversations were held with MR around the ability for the steam pipe to handle or be upgraded to deliver the correct temperature/pressure for CoalSwitch production & if not a new boiler would be needed so requiring additional permitting permission from the NC Gov leading to further delays/costs & a dangerous further squeeze on AEG's limited funds. He assured shareholders thorough due diligence would reveal any shortfalls before proceeding with the purchase but then set upon removing important key staff members who doubted his approach.
On January 11th 2019 just as MR makes an important Lumberton update he also has to embarrassingly disclose to the market under AIM rules that he was the serving Chairman of Environmental Recycling Technologies plc when it was placed into administration in July 2016 & dissolved in October 2017. Not exactly the best confidence builder before releasing his Lumberton update were we are informed the Due Diligence is still continuing but going very well & good enough for MR to enter into a LOI to purchase the site. The due diligence period had been extended until end of February & if positive only then would the commercial real estate purchase be made. The plant from the Salt Lake City would then start its move so clearly missing MR current deadline of early 2019 to be operational. The timeline to start CoalSwitch generating revenues is now quoted only as ASAP.
While MR was continuing his due diligence into purchasing the Lumberton site he was also constantly being updated by the team at a specially appointed consultancy into how the EU grant application was progressing. At great expense to themselves they had been instructed to handle the very complex application on the understanding MR would have the necessary funding to trigger the 10 million Euro grant if the application was a success. When they received positive notification the Superfuel application had achieved one of the highest scores MR was informed he now needed to deposit the funds to trigger the grant. Unfortunately those funds never arrived & the successful application was lost which destroyed all the hard worked plans for rolling out the CoalSwitch blended Superfuel rapidly into Poland.
Michael Rowan's (MR) first major announcement after taking over the CEO position was made on the 15th October 2018 with the joint venture agreement between Georgia Renewable Power (GRP).
With AEG's current skill base & development work all being carried out over 2000 miles away in Salt Lake City & receiving great support from the Utah Government to prepare for the much anticipated Warren Buffet owned Rocky Mountain Power full test burn this sudden announcement came under very close scrutiny.
Because of AEG's very tight cash reserves we were assured by MR this opportunity would offer a far quicker route to CoalSwitch cash generating revenues because GRP were very excited about the technology & wanted to deploy it at all 3 of its facilities ASAP. To get the project rapidly moving GRP were going to immediately deploy its highly skilled teams to relocate the current plant onto it's site right next to their power plant so it could utilise their surplus steam allowing for the production of CoalSwitch to start before the end of 2018. One of CoalSwitch main manufacturing expenses is producing very high pressurised steam so being able to reduce this is very beneficial. Relocation costs would also be very low & easily offset because AEG could now share GRP's equipment so substantially reducing future CAPEX & all permit requirements to operate a CoalSwitch plant were already covered on the GRP's site.
So everything sounded very positive & received great support which luckily allowed MR to ride the very turbulent storm after the full horror of the Newfoundland & Labrador Government forestry agreement was unleashed into the market leading to AEG being temporarily suspended from the London Stock Exchange. After investing several million Canadian Dollars of shareholder's money the NL Gov then decided only to award two five-year commercial cutting permits rather than the much promised Forestry Management Agreement.
Over the weekend & leading up to the latest Conditional Placing to raise £1.510 million vote I'm going to share my appraisal on here of MR track record since taking over the AEG CEO position.
I do except he did inherit some difficult problems so will limit my findings to just the Lumberton project which is all of his own excellent work & in which AEG's future success/survival now rests.
I hope by helping you identify the difference between ROWAN'S world & how that fits in with the REAL world you will be better informed to which way to vote. All the information I will share can be backed up with evidence & I will happily help direct you in the right directions so you can fact check its content.
Since sitting down with the team at Munro & Associates https://leandesign.com/ in 2015 & seeing their data sheets for deploying CoalSwitch plants I've believed this technology offers not only a game changing moment for the good of old Planet Earth but also an incredibly profitable business opportunity for companies sensible enough to embrace in its use. This belief was further enhanced after receiving the excellent results from both the very supportive Government backed University of Utah & Cobant's led Polish laboratories test burns.
However as I keep saying this can only happen if you've got the very best management team in place with a leader who is prepared to work/listen to its strategic partners & embrace their expertise rather than continuing to spend his valuable time falling out with them.
Stifler re incoming TF1s. I remember when MR was originally appointment as an NED back in 2015 I was briefed because of his excellent contacts within the major investment houses like Goldman Sachs, Credit Suisse & others he would be opening the doors which would quickly lead to new major TR1s. Being able to show such major share holdings in AEG from these investment companies would add incredible credibility. I therefore used this information to help convince Chas Fritz & Sandy Munro along with the rest of the Biomass Energy Enhancement team to sign their technology into AEG & to create the CoalSwitch division. If you look at the current significant shareholder list you can see the top 3 are still the same from before MR joined & InterTrader was only promoted because Ruffer Investment lost hope & sold out. After all those years of many fundraising rounds MR still hasn't yet secured one big enough to be added to the significant shareholder list or from what was his original brief.
Hi Bantham my comments/feelings have nothing to do with personal stuff & are all only based on MR performance since he took over the CEO position in July 2018.
I do appreciate there was some nasty mess left over from the reign of the departing CEO but please remember MR was already occupying the position of Chairman since April 2016 so would have been overlooking his then current CEO activities while most of this mess was being created.
I was initially optimistic with MR's appointment but if you analyze the events since his CEO appointment its just more rounds of continuous disasters.
From the moment MR decided to change from his original plan which was to relocate from Salt Lake City onto the Georgia Renewable Power site & right up-close to their power plant (as announced in the RNS on 15th Oct 2018) to instead purchase the vacant Alamc American Knits site next door (as announced on 11th Jan 2019) he was warned by many this would come with considerable problems leading to lengthy delays. MR refused to listen to these experts which also included his own now ex-staff who'd designed/built the plant in Salt Lake City & their skills/knowledge has been sadly lost at a time when its most needed.
At last years AGM MR made a number of statements which he knew at the time were factually incorrect but still continued to try & hoodwink his shareholders. I'm not sure they may be so gullible this year especially with him again arriving with his begging bowl empty & so soon after refusing to listen to their expert advise.
I still do believe AEG could be very successful & the CoalSwitch technology is a game changer which can also be potentially adapted to make new exciting renewable liquid fuels from biomass wastes. Perhaps this is why the new talented NEDs decided to join AEG rather than MR management expertise.
Again clearly the company is in need of additional funding to survive but rather than just agreeing to another round of dilution in the hope that this time MR might do something finally positive I would prefer to have an additional box added to the Proxy vote form allowing for shareholders to agree but only if MR steps down from the his current position & the Executive Board.
From my conversations with key individuals, major shareholders & strategic partners I believe with the right approach from a more capable management team some of the currently stalled & potentially lost opportunities could be reworked into winning formulas.
CoalSwitch is a game changing technology but it needs a game changing team to explode it into the market. During the 2nd World War Winston Churchill also needed to quickly create a game changing team to overhaul Great Britain's very rundown war-time fighter aircraft production. He appointed William Maxwell Aitken 1st Baron of Beaverbrook as Minister of Aircraft Production. With Churchill's blessing, Beaverbrook overhauled all aspects of war-time aircraft production. He increased production targets by 15% across the board, took control of aircraft repairs and RAF storage units & replaced the management of plants that were under performing. Under his supervision fighter and bomber production increased so much so that Churchill declared: "His personal force and genius made this Aitken's finest hour."
Well fortunately for longtime suffering AEG shareholders we are very privileged to have the great-grandson of this war-time hero currently occupying an NED position on our BOD. I'm hoping with the right encouragement we may be able to convince Max to step-up & shows us some of his great grandfather's family magic & I'm sure he's certainly is a wood-chip off the old block would show us all one of his very own finest hours.
Bantham thanks for posting your views & its certainly been a painful mess but over a very long period of time.
Unfortunately my feelings are aligned with those of many other major shareholders & strategic partners who sadly feel with MR continuing to occupy the CEO position the stupid problems AEG has faced will continue into the distant future.
We've now held more meetings with MR than we care to remember agreeing to action plans which he then either constantly fails to deliver or immediately sets upon destroying because of his fear of losing his totalitarian hold over the total mess he's caused & being held accountable.
I've very damaging first hand working experiences of MR pretending to be doing one thing but in the real world carrying out the complete opposite & all to the detriment of AEG shareholders. I was intending to share these along with documented proof at this years AGM but I think we are starting to see his latest master-plan taking shape to avoid any such confrontations just like last year when he was able to avoid being put up for the vote for his Directorship re-appointment.
However I do believe there is a positive way of quickly moving AEG forward & that would be to simply allow the recently appointed very talented NEDs to take over the senior Executive Director positions. Reading through their previous experiences you can easily see how their talents would quickly have the due-diligence teams at investment houses ticking the right box's & opening opportunities to raise additional funds with terms far more favourable to AEG shareholders compared to MR delighted placement of £1.510 million CLN with over 22% discount to the then currently traded share price value.
Yes Blazer that very unhappy shareholder was the Chairmen of Cobant & he heads the important strategic partnership in the Polish superfuel project. I remember how he went very red faced & frustratingly shook his head when MR was answering the question why AEG had failed to secure the multi-million Euro EU grant even though it's application achieved one of the highest scores. When you look on the AEG website there is now no mention of this project & in this years annual report we are informed AEG has no immediate plans to resubmit a new application (all very strange). I would therefore conclude this opportunity is either dead or at the very least badly damaged.
Unfortunately it dose seem one thing MR is very well qualified & excels at doing is not only destroying relationships with strategic partners but also with his important shareholders & vital work colleagues. Also in attendance at last years AGM & flying in especially from the US were Phil Scalzo & a representative from Munro Engineering & Associates. Both these are highly skilled in the CoalSwitch technology & expressed their total dissatisfaction into how MR was running the company.