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Kooba,
I have no intention of giving investment advice - indeed I am very clear that one should be extremely wary of taking any investment advice from any BB.
And I do not hold shares here - I have been totally clear on that. I wanted to at one point because I thought that quite a lot could be done with this vehicle if a decent management team was brought in and that cash pile was put to work in a transition energy play.
That didn't happen and CA had no appetite to change anything, hence this ludicrous "deal".
It remains my view that if CA and Kerogen were recused and a proper management team installed here, then the shareholders could make a lot more out of the situation - broadly similar to the supposedly Tony Buckingham deal which CA floated and then withdrew.
Johns,
As with all these situations, it is not as clear as black and white.
Specifically, whether CA and Kerogen can be seen as effectively a concert party. I think that would be relatively easy to prove.
So, that would then leave the question as to how to precise any "deemed offer". Would it be at the 12.5p full value of the so-called Prax deal?
Probably not because the offer is so contingent (ie the DCU's - which is akin to having leprechauns telling you they will eventually find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow).
But then the issue becomes not only a deemed offer (difficult to quantify because the Prax offer is about as solid as a blancmange) but whether CA and Kerogen should be allowed to vote on this ridiculous offer.
That one is actually legally on much tighter ground. They should either recuse themselves or being disallowed from voting on this offer.
That would be a relatively easy route to pursue.
My own view - and I have been clear, I am not a shareholder here, though I wanted to have been on the back of a proper plan to use the cash pile - is that the Prax offer is a disaster but the alternative is worse - leaving Wolfe and Maris in charge, backed by Bernstein and CA.
In which case, I think the current SP offers the best route out, rather than hanging on for what might be in the Prax "deal".
Johns, I am not sure that the No votes would get the requisite 25% to block this deal.
Given that the deal is so transparently a disaster for shareholders, I think there could be grounds for CA+Kerogen to be viewed as a concert party and thus to either have to recuse themselves from voting or be deemed to have effectively made at an offer themselves at the full 12.5p.
And thus be forced to make an offer at that deemed level - because, with over 30% between them, that is a deemed takeover offer situation.
There are some very smart takeover lawyers in the City that would have a pop at that one on a success fee only basis.
Kooba,
Are you are messneger for Wolfe and Maris?
The legal charge would initially be civil but could become criminal if evidence came out that either or both had taken payments that may not have been entirely aligned with shareholders' interests. That could be explored.
As regards civil legal issues, Maris pushed the insane debt-for-equity swap proposal. He should be sued for the $17m or so that they paid the investment banking advisors on that "deal" (rape) - which ultimately failed because Richard Bernstein had the balls to make sure it was opposed.
Oldman45,
I applaud your commitment.
I am far from being a genius but I have an legal and investment banking background and would be very happy to help out here in any way I could.
Specifically, to ensure that Wolfe and Maris do not get richly paid off for doing what is transparently a Godawful deal - and, ideally, go to jail.
Johns,
I think that was a brilliantly worded post.
Which, I suspect, was an outstanding articulation of what anyone looking at this situation must be asking themselves.
I applaud the question.
And I don't have an answer - I think it is a terrible deal.
And I think Wolfe and Maris should be in confined circumstances for what they have done.
ASI,
I am not a shareholder here. I wanted to be but the pattern of behaviour by the board and the shareholders, including Crystal Amber, hardly gave any sense of comfort that anyone knew what they were doing - or cared.
So, I would not be litigating because I have not lost anything apart from a lot of time and effort and the opportunity cost of what could have been done here with that cash pile.
It remains my view that Crystal Amber should sue Wolfe and Maris for at least dereliction of fiduciary duty. And maybe more.
My own view is that Richard Bernstein has been appalllingly treated by this "leadership" team and specifically hose two jokers, Wolfe and Maris.
And I think Wolfe and Maris should be sued personally - I am not sure why Crytatl Amber do not themselves sue those two wretches.
I do not think RB took the right decisions on some key decisions.
But no-one should forget that it was him that stopped that crazy debt-for-equity swap deal with the bondholders. A deal that was pushed by that wretch, Maris.
Sue Wolfe and Maris for what they did here.
It would not need necessarily a Kroll type cost.
One of the board directors, maybe even more senior than just a board director.........has been the subject of a Serious Fraud Office (SFO) enquiry into his behaviour in Africa.
It is very clear that a decent number of shareholders in HUR are less than happy with this Prax deal which, on the face of it, appears to be little short of a one-sided disaster.
I do think that any shareholders looking to recoup some of their losses should look at suing Maris and Wolfe in their personal capacities. And to find out whether everything in this "offer" was entirely above board as regards board approval/recommendation.
I am sure Kroll would appreciate another investigatory mandate.
And I would be surprised if something was not found.....
I do not think Bernstein and Crystal Amber have shown themselves to be overly competent here.
However, I would observe towo things.
They - all shareholders but especially Crystal Amber - were incredibly badly let down by the "leadership" team, especially the ludicrous Wolfe and Maris.
They - Crystal Amber - were incredibly loyal to, and supportive of, this company over many years.
All the shareholders, Crystal Amber included, should sue Wolfe for being an utterly useless chairman and not stop until he is either put in jail or bankrupted. And then they should start on Maris.
If CA have rolled over - as would appear to be the case - then there is not really any option but to accept this bid, awful though it be.
CA withdrewf the EGM requisition and, from then on, had no leverage whatever.
And they have no leverage now.
But if this deal does not go through, everyone is stuck with the muppets, Maris and Wolfe, running the show until final liquidation.
Rock and a hard place come to mind here in this mess.
The Board here rejected a supposed cash offer at 7.7p.
It is not clear whether that offer ever actually existed or was just a flying-the-kite exercise /red herring.
If it was a red herring, the board - and specifically, the chairman, Wolfe,- should be sued for having failed to exercise due attention to his role. Fiduciary responsibility of care and competence.
If it was not a red herring, then the board - and, specifically, the chairman, Wolfe should be sued for having rejected it, especially in favour of this Prax "deal" which would make leprechauns and their stories of pots of gold sound plausible.
And Crystal Amber's won shareholders should be livid at them having signed up to such a monumentally stupid deal.
A deal that was far worse than the one they (Crystal Amber) were trying to requisition an EGM for with Tony Buckingham. At least that one had some possibility of upside.
The SP is now below that 7.7p
There was, supposedly, a cash bid at 7.7p, which was rejected by the board.
Yet they have endorsed an offer so Byzantine in its complexity that it is impossible to work out quite how any shareholder might eventually get the supposed 12.5p when/if the leprechaun eventually finds the pot of god at the end of the rainbow.
In the interim, it would appear as if Wolfe and Maris have been well looked after.
The issue here is that, because of Crystal Amber's weakness (as they have also shown at De La Rue), there is very little alternative now. They withdrew the EGM requisition to replace the board (very bad mistake), so, now, even if the Prax offer is rejected (unlikely), the same board that accepted this ridiculous offer would still be in charge.
There was a lot that could have been done here. But nothing can be done when you leave Wolfe and Maris in charge.
The shareholders that lost lots of money here should sue Wolfe and Maris for their losses.
If there really ever was a cash bid at 7.7p, then the board, and specifically the chairman, Wolfe, should be held to account for having rejected it.
If there was not a real cash bid at 7.7p, then the board and, specifically, the chairman, Wolfe should be held to account for having announced such phantom "bid".
The offer is crap.
Crystal Amber should have removed this board - their withdrawing that EGM requisition showed a level of spectacular incompetence.
Now they have no choice but to accept this crap bid (as they have done) and hope that enough of the other shareholders are so stupid as to accept it too.
I would be surprised if this half-baked bid gets the required special majority.
This company needs to have Wolfe and Maris removed and a proper board put in. Even Bernstein at Crystal Amber knows that but has managed to end up with this????
Pathetic.
But not dissimilar to what Crystal Amber has done at De La Rue, another total disaster.
CharlotteBee,
I do not disagree that some people trade on sentiment. But that is really some sort of psychological game, guessing what the other guy/girl will do next - and how many of them will follow suit.
There is no doubt that money can be made playing that game. And I suspect Little Nigel, his bag-carrier, Redbox, and the ilk may be being paid to achieve precisely that - moves in sentiment.
Sentiment comes and goes.
VALUE does not change.
Which is why I have held for a long time (3 years). And am quite happy to hold until the good ship PRD berths at VALUE.
Redbox,
I am up rather a lot over 30 years in the game, so I may not be entirely an idiot. And I do tend to take a small number of large positions, so it is not just portfolio effect.
And, where things have gone less well than expected, as happened with PANR (where I am currently a fair bit underwater), I take the view of holding the position until it restores to what I believe the VALUE to be.
Everyone has their own investing style and must do as they see fit.
As for complimenting other posters, I see nothing wrong with showing some gratitude to those with significant sector knowledge and expertise who contribute their expertise here.
You might want to try the same?
LancyGeo, I would normally agree with your suggestion to ignore or filter these idiots.
However, I would suggest that the problem with that comes in with newbies to the BB or those that may wish to invest and are just doing a bit of research.
And, without knowledge (based on quality of past postings) of who is who amongst the posters, the temptation is to take a very gentle approach and assume that a) all are of similar intellect and b) all have good intent (not ulterior motives - whether that be financial or psychological).
All newbies or those researching this stock would be well served by looking into the posting histories of posters. And sometimes because there are a lot of posts from the likes of Little Nige and his bag-carrier, Redbox, it can appear that they may be expressing widely held views.
I cannot discount that, though I believe it extremely unlikely. I just think many of the better posters avoid, as far as possible, getting into BB pi**ing contests with them - and, as a result, it appears that they may be more reflective of the overall case than is reality.