Member Info for haggis_trap

Curve ball suggestion...

A merger / take over with Long Boat Energy. They have interesting exploration prospects in Norway and a good management team. However they are lacking production in portfolio. Merging portfolio with HUR would be great platform for future growth for both firms.

> Long experience suggests the way forward is to take personal responsibility for your investment mistakes

Over the years I have made plenty good investment decisions (and some bad ones).

Hurricane Energy certainly had its issues. However never before have I seen a board so blatantly disregard share holder interest. The failed restructuring plan would have diluted share holders out of existence while using covid legislation to deny share holders a vote! During the time period Corbett was employed to fob off private investors asking awkward questions about the plans. Corbett himself lied to me several times on the phone, though was always careful never to put anything in written (email) form.

Thankfully a court of law saw through it all (and Corbett promptly departed company once it was clear the restructuring was illegal).

If Phil Corbett doesn't want to be tarnished by his previous employment history then might I suggest he simply picks up the phone? He certainly knows how to contact me. I would love to discuss the fact that bonds were subsequently repaid with an astonishing £85 million to spare! I politely gave him opportunity to explain his role in the failed restructuring 2 weeks ago. However when asked about HUR he panicked and promptly hung up. As result the only option is to go public so everyone knows about this mans previous history (everything above is factually correct).

Over to you Phil...

> when you state that the head of IR was the master mind pulling all strings

I wish JSE, and its share holders, well. However absolutely no apology for highlighting Phil Corbetts previous history.

Now, Phil Corbett wasn't mastermind. However his employment period at HUR coincided exactly with the scam (even leaving the company the exact week a court of law refused the restructuring). He was employed as the public face of a scheme designed to defraud private investors of their investment. Thankfully a court of law saw through it and refused the restructuring.

If Phil objects to this post then perhaps he could simply answer his phone and talk about the Hurricane bonds being repaid last week? RAT.

email sent.
thanks / strong work!

^ Corbett's period at HUR coincided exactly with failed restructuring plan (he arrived 9 months before and mysteriously went on holiday the week of the court case before promptly departing into sunset).

This was a scam that tried to use covid legislation to deny share holders a vote on restructuring which would have diluted them out of existence. (Following a subsequent court sanctioned vote 94% of share holders voted against). Absolutely scandelous though thankfully court saw through it all as an obvious scam.

I wish all JSE holders well. However zero apology for highlighting Phil Corbett's previous dealings. What kind of bonus was he on to shovel the restructuring through?

^ Like many I lost a small fortune in Hurricane Energy, in part due to the failed restructuring which Corbett was part of.
Now company is debt free I am back in for a small amount.

Anyone who wants to read about the failed restructuring can read the court verdict below. One key aspect of the case is that Hurricane tried to use covid legislation to stop share holders having a vote. Corbett (whose employment period coincided with the scam), and directors, are now under investigation of suspicion they didn't act in share holder interest during the restructuring.

https://www.taylorwessing.com/en/insights-and-events/insights/2021/08/riu-hurricane-energy-the-first-uk-court-refusal-to-sanction-a-restructuring-plan

https://www.reedsmith.com/en/perspectives/2021/09/a-storm-in-a-teacup-hurricane-energy-launches-bond-buy-back

Sympathy with Phil Corbett ? No doubt Hurricane had its issues. However : he was spokesperson for a cabal that would have reduced private investors stake to zero overnight. Bond holders tried to prematurely take control of the entire company for £50 million while wiping out private investors. (12 months later current cash in bank is $85 million, debt free and producing $20 million profit per month).

> I lost money in Hur, tried to learn from it and moved on.

How many small investors lost money in Hurricane because of the restructuring scam?
Thankfully a court of law ruled it was legal.
Coincidentally Phil Corbett left the company that very same week....

As an aside to the above. I wish all investors in JSE well.
However : they should be aware of Phil Corbetts previous history.

A little background information for investors in JSE....
I will keep this factual.

Phil Corbett is currently employed by JadeStone Energy as "head of investor relations". He was previously employed at Hurricane Energy. His ~10 month period of employment at HUR corresponded exactly with the period of the failed restructuring plan. This was a scheme which would diluted private investors out of existence (divided their share holding by factor of 10) and passed the company to an "an-hoc group of bondholders". This was only possible using a loop hole in law implemented during the covid-19 lockdown designed for other purposes. Thankfully a court of law ruled the restructuring to be unlawful and refused to sign it off.

Subsequently history has proven the judge was correct and the bonds were repaid this week with a stonking $85 million spare. Phil Corbett and the rest of those involved are now under investigation for the role they played in this "scam".

FWIW : I had several dealing with Phil Corbett while he worked at Hurricane Energy. He would never reply to emails (for fear of putting anything in writing or leaving a paper trail). He frequently fobbed me on the phone and blatantly lied on multiple occasions about the motivations of the board. I have absolutely no doubt that he was employed specifically to fend off questions from irate investors while they tried to shovel the restructuring through the courts.

Un-trustworthy is an understatement.

> When the 'head of investor relations' Phil Corbett was around it was next to impossible to get a reply to any email sent.

For sure : he wouldn't put anything in writing for fear of there being written record.
He was more than happy to fob off private investors over the phone though.
Even called me up just 5 minutes after I questioned intentions of the board on this very forum.

So, I emailed this question:
Q) Now the bond is repaid and company has significant cash in the bank do they plan to recruit a new "head of investor relations" to promote company profile going forward ? What is the time scale for this ?

And got this response....
A) "Regarding the Investor Relations role, this function is currently undertaken by individuals within the business, supported by our advisors. No decisions have yet been taken to recruit a full time individual, but we will continue to promote the Company going forward and build on our current strong financial position"

i.e HUR only needed a head of investor relations for the period of the restructuring.
Phil Corbett was hired as part of the scam.

> how long can they produce for

November 23.
Do the maths and work out what cash pile might be then!

If Kistos share price keep rising then they surely come under increased pressure...
Get your popcorn out - interesting is an understatement.

Anyone remember Phil Corbett? Hurricanes ex-head of investor relations. His employment period coincided exactly with the restructuring period.

I gave him a little call this afternoon. Wanted to ask what he thought about the bond being repaid, with $85 million spare. What were his views on the failed restructuring plan. Unsurprisingly he couldn't get off the phone fast enough and hung up on me in a panic when asked some simple but polite questions.

If anyone would like to give him a call / SMS to let their thoughts be known then his number can be found on contact section of the Jadestone Energy website. Click like once your message has been sent ;-)

I find it interesting that when HUR was, apparently, unable to pay bonds they hired a "head of investor relations" to fob off difficult questions from private investors. However now the company has better prospects, and should be shouting about future to markets, there is no one in the role.

Longer term fossil fuels will be out of fashion. However in short term the terrible situation in Ukraine will ensure record prices for oil : which means HUR is a cash generating machine.

My diary says bonds due to be repaid by end of week. My guess is HUR might be taken over by September?

As a Kistos share holder I can get why SQZ share holders are angry with smaller company making a move. However

1) most of the initial financial benefit / upside from this deal will go to SRQ share holders. Admittedly via their own cash pile
2) The benefit to Kistos share holders is being part of larger company longer term.

If merger goes ahead i would expect share price to be north of £10 by Xmas (EBIT x1.7 plus FTSE250 listing). That is the real benefit to both parties.

You would expect a tick up once bonds repaid and another £20mil is banked?

Given the relative cash positions is a Serica take over of Kistos the most likely outcome?

Either way AA has played a wild card. Either we take over Serica using their cash pile and become FTSE250 gas company. Alternative is they are pushed into making a move on KISTOS themselves.

Well : now we know why there was a tick up last week...

I suspect there is a general stunned silence as investors process the information? It is a little above my pay grade - hence the reason we all invested in Kistos and let AA get the deals done.

My thoughts:
1) wow! AA has balls
2) combined large FTSE250 European gas company is attractive proposition in current climate

Ultimately it is a bold move to aggressively propose takeover / merger with a much larger company. However it could pay off. Either the deal success (and SRQ cash pile used to purchase their own company) or AA persuades SRQ to use their cash pile to purchase KIST at premium.

No idea who blinks first - but it is exciting...