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My guess is at present that Zaza is out in Georgia but that it's difficult to get someone in to replace him because of the virus. Has he been taking advantage? It still seems strange to me that the main parent company Frontera US. Corp was not able or did not want to remove Zaza from the Georgia entity even though they had removed him as Director from the parent company. I could be wrong on that though, has Zaza indeed been removed from the Georgia entity but set up another entity outside off the FRR group but also used the Frontera name even including 'Georgia' as well so creating a confusing situation whereby he is Director of his own separate 'Frontera...' companies that aren't controlled by Frontera US Corp and were not set up by them? I recall a few posts back someone found that there were two Frontera companies that were different but both had 'Georgia' in the title.
If this is so then to what reason? I'm not so sure that Zaza would try a fiddle but possibly they have been set up to facilitate some sort of operation with the main Frontera US Corp, selling oil has been one mentioned though the specifics who knows. So possibly Zaza is trying to get some profit for himself by creating support companies to aid Frontera in the selling off oil. As the registration docs show that have just been highlighted these companies seem to have been created while he was still Director so did he award these support Frontera companies that he 100 percent owned contracts to sell on the oil etc before he was dismissed later in the year, last year as a Director?
Possibly that may or may not be seen as a legal move, conflict if interest? Or something that reasonably aids FRR interests?
So question is then of how Green Capital became involved, was the deal with FRR's Georgia subsidiary or Zaza's Georgia company setup?
Has Zaza been speaking off his own 'Frontera' setup companies in recent interviews including the hydrocarbon development talk, etc? I would find it quite plausible.
I may be off track on all of this of course but that is my thoughts at this time. Would be interested to hear what others think on this?
So am I right in that it is looking like GC were just brought in to fund exploration in an area removed from block12? Hence were given a sub company Frontera Georgia Eastern under Frontera Resources Georgia Corporation? So they don't likely have any investment in block 12 and we're much back where we were on thinking on that one, that either Baker Hughes are helping to develop the field or FRR are doing so alone and just plowing profits back in to develop more wells, unless of course they have got another investor in.
Freescot, did you enquire what the situation would be if you put a UK address down on your account instead?
Possibly Baker Hughes ended up wanting too big a slice of the pie or decided they were getting too small a slice. Another possibility could be that the Arbitration dispute and the rest of it may have put them off or made it too difficult. If FRR had lost the lot then I guess so would BH. That or possibly FRR decided against them or whatever. Doubt they're still in the mix if GC are down as involved in Frontera Georgia, wouldn't be much point and I reckon we would be a lot richer if they had anyway near half of the 250 wells they were touting.
Another thought is that Frontera have a seven year license. Now theoretically they could drill a handful of wells and the money brought in from that pay to drill a handful more wells. That is probably what has been happening while we were in Arbitration (if we're lucky). However as a long term strategy even with a cumulative effect it may only give maybe thirty, forty, fifty, etc wells by the time the seven year license period is up. That is very probably unlikely anywhere near enough to get a renewal/extension of the license or get much money back to shareholders once the cost of drilling & erecting wells is take off. So getting in someone like GC to invest a lot of money for well drilling upfront is likely needed to see any much money out of this thing before license expires. My guess is that if Frontera can get a good enough hold on the situation with a well developed field and hydrogen etc development then they could potentially get a renewal/extension of the license also.
Thinking this though I'm doubting that the target here is the Shareholders. I could be wrong but my guess is that Green Capital haven't/don't want to put the money in to invest in the field and but out Shareholders at the same time. That would be a huge amount of money that they probably either haven't got or don't want to put down on a single investment. It looks like to me that they specifically wanted to tie their investment to the oil & gas field asset and in return a deal was hammered out.
If on the other hand GC bought out Frontera Georgia to be a separate company (but still keep the license in Frontera Georgia name) and give a large wodge of cash to Frontera Corporation then they would need to either have the cash in addition to develop the field or get it from elsewhere and hence be back to square one almost in an underfunded company.
Anything could be feasible, I recall Zaza in one of his more recent interviews that he said he was now the largest creditor of Frontera. That seemed strange to me as theoretically that is Hope. So we assumed that Hope was about to be paid off. Unless of course GC did buyout Frontera Georgia from Frontera Corporation and it is now a separate company with Zaza loaning it money, but I doubt Zaza's pockets are deep enough for what it really needs but who knows.
I still think that part of the deal might involve profit share back to Frontera Corporation and so avoid a massive payout upfront but instead allow Green Capital to invest it's money in the oil & gas field which let's face it is really where the millions need to be invested rather than paying off shareholders then struggling to find money itself to develop the field.
For me at the moment something like that seems the most plausible explanation. Could be different we'll just have to wait until we get further information forthcoming I guess but I'm doubting at the moment if there will be any immediate shareholder offer. Looks like to me we could be in on this one a while longer until either a relist allows us a form of escape or possibly a buyout by a much larger entity in the form of a SM possibly a few years down the track.
Best case is that we might get a decent dividend a couple of years from now if we're lucky.
Welloiled, that's some good working out on your part, well done.
Bedex, it looks a strange set up but I think Green Capital have probably a) wanted direct in on the assets after seeing all the Hope/Outrider goings on and b) had to be done that way in order to keep the license so that Frontera Georgia remains as the company in name at least as it's name is on the license.
My guess is that Frontera Georgia is still tied up with the patent company Frontera Corporation in the US. I can't see any other way that it would happen without their say so and hence SN etc being in on it. My guess is that an agreement was hammered out and Frontera Corporation in which I believe our shares are gets a big payback/share of what is going on in the Frontera Georgia part.
My guess is that it's just another way of formulating it so that the license can be kept as they know the GG will make big issue if it's done in a more conventional way.
I wonder if possibly the claims being pressed are really Frontera Georgia on what happened last year etc but that Green Capital now has to be mentioned in such a manner as a matter of legal description even though they might have only come in fully off recent. The way it's put gives me the impression that it's the result of a more recent move that Green Capital now get written in as owning Frontera Georgia.
I think if SN was out in the cold we would hear or more likely have heard pretty soon. My guess is as we haven't he is content with the situation. Hopefully we will hear more soon.
Welloiled, I recall Zaza saying after the Arb that the GG were being obstructive as to their activities, bank accounts, pipelines, etc so that could well be it. I also recall more recently a few months back that in one of his interviews he mentioned 'Green Investment' at the time I speculated that it might he might have meant 'Green Finance' but we weren't sure if he meant that or the newer green technologies such as Hydrogen, etc that he was talking about them developing, could still be either I guess.
Just when they did the deal with Green Finance I can only guess it was more recent as SN said Zaza had scuppered the previous deal. That or perhaps there was more than one deal who knows. I'm guessing that apart from whatever we may work out here we're waiting for some further information from some quarter which may explain more clearly what is going on.
Maybe they got Green Capital in to buyout Frontera Georgia and then FRR takes a share in the profit something like that. If it's the case that FRR will never have the money to make a real go of it, it may have turned out to be the only way. Probably done like it has been as the only way to keep the license no doubt as well.
Assume this means that the deal has been done that we thought might happen a month or so ago but then heard nothing. Frontera Eastern Georgia was the part that held the license and did the operations down on the ground in Georgia if I remember rightly. So our 50 percent that FRR held with the GG holding the remaining 50 percent has now been completely taken by Green Finance with Zaza being the DG? - hence why in recent interviews he was still being referred to as the Director and still talking about the oil & gas situation, the situation in Georgia and the future.
If this is so the question remains what did we get in return? Was it a big lump sum payout, royalties, both, other stuff included. I assume we still have the Frontera US part overall so they didn't buy out the whole company which other than Georgia just has license rights in Moldova that we apparently have done nothing with to date and may or may not hold anything.
So what are the thoughts on how this went down and whether we might hear of anything in the way of an investor return on investment/profit???
Strange, they seem desperate to try to get it to arbitration to avoid court, I wonder why? We've heard a fair amount already of the alleged points of argument. If not anymore to hear on that then I can only assume it is the verdict SN, etc fear. If all their points of issue are a load of bs all dressed up against Zaza then it probably won't look good for them. Can't think of any other reason they are so keen on getting it to arbitration rather than court.
Ah, fair enough Njames, many thanks. Not easy to follow all the goings on. Guess we will have to watch this space and wait to see. I know Mole looked into Cayman Law with regard to it all as well as the company articles and there seemed no go in it unfortunately. If anyone turfs up anything or the situation chances then can possibly look at it then I guess. I kind of hoped that Frontera will have sorted things out by now but looks like we'll have to wait a bit longer. Not knowing what is really going on is a real pain. I just hope real progress is being made and not just a load of faffing around.
Weren't the Cayman companies all liquidated and the US company becoming the parent company of whatever remains in Georgia, etc? That was the impression I got from the liquidation court notices and also from Zaza, etc.
That's why I think we should start looking into whether there is any easy & affordable way under US law that we can insist that Frontera holds annual Shareholders Meetings & publication of Company Accounts like all companies are supposed to do/should do public or private. Now that Frontera is a US based company and not Caymans it could well be our right under US law to be entitled to both Shareholders Meetings & view Company Accounts on a yearly basis as a right. I'm not sure if this source is relevant to us as I'm not a lawyer but according to this source which is apparently US based we are:
https://www.upcounsel.com/shareholder-rights-in-a-private-company
Again I don't know whether the specifics mean that we will actually be entitled to Shareholder Meetings & view Company Accounts on a yearly basis but I think it is worth looking into. For all we know there may be some regulator or watchdog in the US we can complain to and they may take action on our behalf. Is there anyone on this board that may be able to look into this to find out for certain? I remember Mole was pretty good on this stuff so don't know if he is still knocking around. My concern is that if we are cur out off the loop for too long us shareholders may be side lined and stuff not done in our interests. Let's face it how long are we supposed to sit on the sidelines quietly not really knowing what is going on? This court matter goes on into 2022 if I am correct then there's the other court cases. Are they going to open up to us after these cases? I doubt it. I think it would be a bad idea to be shut out for too long as it allows them to do anything they like and that may turn out to be not good for us.
On the gas you may be right MP, but somewhere in the stuff that has been dug up, interviews etc they have seemed to suggest we were producing gas. Thing is none of us really know what they have been producing but I get the impression that we have been pumping more oil. While I think some money may have been held back to stop the company going under because if the GG trying to stifle it I also think that oil wells were likely being developed with some of it. It makes no sense that we were producing quite a lot of all but couldn't pay anyone and apparently skint. It is a sound move in my mind though that if you excuse yourself from paying others so that you can develop the field and be free off depending
on needing any further investment in the short term at least then that is better than paying others and not being able to develop the field and then having to go begging to others to invest who will want the lion's share off it all.
Long term there is always a deal with a SM but I reckon FRR would have to be seen to be in a decent shape in order to get a deal of much value to us as otherwise they would see it as us having no choice and them doing us a favour even with a bad deal. So to my mind the BoD have used people who they were supposed to be paying as a kind of credit facility. They know by using this method they will get better terms than any YA/Outrider or any other finance deal. By the time the court cases come up they can settle up before it gets to court paying only the extra on top which by that time a developed oil revenue can easily pay.
If we are now in a reasonably good position which let's face it we should be after a good two years or so (and that is what ZM reckoned we would be a good two years or so back) then we really need to get back to a situation where the company is transparent. We haven't had that since delist and now post Arbitration it's getting to a stage where it's unacceptable for us Shareholders to be in the dark and locked out. Most people in this world look out for themselves and I don't see ZM or SN as any different. Having a situation where they can quietly do what they please (well I assume just SN now) with us Shareholders deaf and blind to it all isn't likely to favour us in my opinion. We're not getting any accounts, no official news from the company/RNS, nothing. Since delist we've been stripped of any power to even know what is going on and we've accepted it. Back then there may have been a good reason because of Hope but now they should be able to deal with him and move on. If ZM & SN go out to find a way if getting a larger slice of the pie I don't think the US will care, after all this company was set up by SN with US interests on board. Now that there seems to be done go in FRR they seem to be all coming out of the woodwork again.
I don't know Dulwichman, I'm starting to doubt though whether we can trust either SN or ZM. SN founded the company and probably sees it as his own. I'm starting to think that SN might have went to setup a situation to get rid of ZM once the Arbitration was over. I don't see ZM as necessarily a dishonest guy but he may see it that he was owed money from other sources in the company as the company was not in a good enough shape to pay them, all money had to go into developing the field including not paying others. Now that's never a good way to do it as it looks dodgy and presumably no agreement was ever made to that effect.
My main concern at this point is that ZM is apparently now the biggest creditor, by how much we don't know and also we don't know what SN has been doing. We should be wary I think of who is loaning the company money and on what terms and anything else that may effect debt and hence equity. Are SN and/or ZM out after a bigger Equity stake in the company themselves somehow? Thereby watering down existing shareholders percentage share of the company in comparison? I personally think as Frontera is now apparently US parent owned company (now that the Cayman companies have been liquidated) that we should look to see if there is any internal action we can take as part of US Federal or State law so we can find out what is going on, can we hold an EGM regardless of company terms under US law for example? I don't see Hope as a reason for radio silence now post ARB, but I think that can be used as a reason to keep shareholders in the dark while either SN or ZM, or both suit themselves with what they can get out of Frontera potentially at the expense of all us other shareholders.
So far I'm getting the impression that the restructure doesn't involve any outside investment of any significance. It looks to me like they may just be plowing in profits from the oil & gas back into the field and building up the oil field slowly like that. Someway along the way they have been able to tap into the gas and that apparently brings in a lot of money, way more than the oil at least initially, apparently. It could have happened that way as a result of not paying others, BH involvement etc over the last couple of years. Part of my concern was that FRR would just sit on their hands these past two years and do nothing and just stick with the wells it had developed until the Arbitration etc had played out. I rather hoped that would not be the case as I know a couple of years or so ago they said it would only take to around now for this site to be bringing in good money.
I'm personally thinking that is how it has played out as until FRR gets a decent offer from a SM or an large investor both will probably want too much share for their buy in. If they see a largely undeveloped field they will know that they 'need' their money to develop it, or it will at least look that way and they'll want way more than their fair share in return in equity. As both ZM & SN are both major shareholders among others I doubt they want their shareholding diluted down as like the rest of us their would be no point in that, might as well carry on and build it up slowly ourselves sort of thing until a good offer comes in. Otherwise just press on, on that front I reckon.
Indeed, I do wonder if this is a case that the two have fallen out and are calling each other out on their wrongdoing/perceived wrongdoing. Should be interesting to hear the outcome. It at least seems to be moving fast so far, let's hope that continues and we can find out who's really at fault, maybe both for all we know. Might help to clean up the board and get someone in who is going to drive the company forward. Maybe that is why Zaza wanted a court hearing rather than arbitration, a kind of 'if you take me down I will take you down also' so wanted it to be out in the open to do that, one possibility I guess.
I'm happy for it to play out in court and let them decide who is right and wrong. If Zaza is willing for this to go through the court process rather than arbitration then maybe he has good reason & explanation behind the accusations. I'm not so sure I trust SN much, he might be willing to move the company forward faster but I'm not sure whether I trust him to do right by shareholders.
Some more info has come out and thank you to Looed for his work. Yet we are still largely in the dark about where the company are headed and the absolute specifics of the current make up off the company.
As far as we know the case brought by Outrider has not ended so have they been paid off? Debt for Equity swap? Zaza stated he was now the biggest creditor unless that was a mis-statement. I also wonder if the company is now able to plow back money in from the sale of oil and now apparently gas to build the field slowly by investing its profits back into more oil rigs, etc. That would of course cut down in profits as it would go down as costs but also mean the company would pay less tax also in theory. Possibly that might explain why the company had been looking hard up but for a while it was looking as though they didn't have two coins to rub together. Theoretically by now going by statements of a couple of years or so ago we should have quite an inflow off money coming in from it all.
So, I'm rather hoping that this gets sorted soon and we can have some sort off official statement from the company telling us exactly where we are at and where we are going along with the situation off finance within the company.
I still think March is a time we need to be getting more concerned if more news is not forthcoming as heartening as all the stories are they are just that until we get something more solid happening.
The hydrocarbon thing makes a lot more sense for Frontera in terms of getting into 'green energy' if it utilizes the oil & gas FRR has. So some good research in likely clearing that one up and making it look less loony.
It sounds like they are looking Frontera as a long term plan potentially then if planning to go into this. So remains to be seen on the overall deal and if shareholders will get an out if they so want as a result of a relist.
Kind of curious why Zaza is now Frontera's biggest creditor. If new finance came in why didn't that money also pay of Zaza, I assume a loan he has made?
Is there any more finance? Or has Hope's debt been/being swapped for Equity?
Hopefully we'll get answers in the next week or so as can't be too long off their finished restructuring I assume. If the court case gets called off with Outrider I assume we can assume the matter there will have been settled one way or another.