trying to put some thoughts togethe30 Sep 2013 21:05
we are 8% down today, and I am not surprised some people had the instinctive reaction to sell, given the news of changes in board. As said by Pantastic, that drop was on a very low volume though and it's well worth noting.
I have been thinking the whole day, trying to understand all this news of board change. Putting some of my thoughts below:
I may be missing something, but it was only in the RNS of a couple of weeks ago I first heard of Hepworth’s request to have a rep in PAN’s Board. Coincidence that the 3 other Directors leave only a week later? I don't think so.
I don’t know much about Hepworth , but I have looked in a few databases and in Google and can’t really find much, only that they seem to be Russian and it seems they may be linked to Uralsib, the financial institution and Lukoil.
Now, on the understanding that Hepworth own all the £8 mill worth of loan notes, if that debt was converted into shares( as their request to have presence in the board may suggest,) Hepworth would effectively end up owning more than a quarter of PAN (!!!) and that would make them the biggest shareholder. Is that perhaps the reason why the 3 D left?
Now, why would a Russian entity want to have so much say in PAN? Strategically, I can see why a Russian company would be interested in a business of an excellent network of bunkering/container facilities across Northern Europe. I think that's clear for everyone too and I don't even need to expand on that. More specifically, the idea of a potential Russian shareholder makes me think that it could also relate to the Rosbunker transaction. The implications of a Russian shareholder in a potential Rosbunker deal could be many..........