19 Aug 2009 14:00
Alecto Energy plc
('Alecto' or the 'Company')
Board appointments
Revised investing policy
Board appointments
As part of the Company's strategy to refocus on its investing policy following the termination of the various agreements entered into between the Company and CSIRO in relation to the commercialisation of CSIRO's hydrogen micro fuel cell technology, the Company is pleased to announce the following Board appointments.
Mr Martin Thomas has stood down as non-executive chairman and has been replaced by Mr Malcolm James. The Board would like to take this opportunity to thank Martin for his involvement with the Company and wish him all the best in his future endeavours.
Malcolm James is a business graduate of RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia with over 25 years' experience in merchant banking, engineering, manufacturing and financing. Over the last 15 years he has played an active role in identifying, exploring, financing and developing a number of significant natural resource projects in Australia, the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, Africa and Asia. To date he has been involved in raising in excess of AUD $3 billion in debt and equity capital. Mr James is the Chairman of Australian Stock Exchange-listed Peninsula Minerals Limited.
Mr Damian Conboy has been appointed to the Board of the Company as executive director. Damian Antony Conboy (age 38) holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Western Australia. He began his career at Potter Warburg stockbrokers in Perth, Western Australia. Following a move to the UK in 1999, he was involved in several business ventures, finance and other business development roles. More recently, he has worked as Managing Director of Exchange Minerals Limited (of which he is also a director), a boutique corporate finance company with offices in London, Dubai, Perth and Belgium, providing project development and capital-raising advice to several companies including Greenland Minerals & Energy Limited. Mr Conboy is also a director of Strait Oil & Gas (UK) Limited, a company with oil and gas projects in Georgia. His past directorships in the last 5 years were My Body Talks Limited, Octagonal Limited and First Avenue International Limited.
In August 1999, Mr Conboy was barred by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission ("ASIC") from acting as a representative of a securities dealer or an investment adviser in Australia for a period of two years. ASIC found that Mr Conboy did not perform his duties efficiently, honestly and fairly and was not a fit and proper person to be a representative.
There are no further disclosures to be made in relation to Mr Conboy pursuant to Schedule Two, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies.
Revised Investing Policy
The Company has revised its investing policy in accordance with the transitional provisions of AIM Notice 33. These revisions are not considered by the Board to amount to a material change in the overall objective and risk profile of the existing investing strategy.
The Company's investing policy is to make investments in the energy sector, which may include exploration, development or production projects in oil and gas, coal, uranium and renewable energy. Alecto will primarily focus on investment and acquisition opportunities in Southern Africa, the former Soviet Union, Latin America, Southern Africa, Australasia and South East Asia. Alecto's interest in a proposed investment may range from a minority position to 100 per cent. ownership. The proposed investments may be a direct interest in an energy project or an indirect interest through partnerships, joint ventures or either quoted or unquoted companies.
The Directors collectively have considerable experience in investing, both in structuring and executing deals and in raising funds. The Directors will use this experience to identify and investigate investment opportunities, and to negotiate acquisitions. Wherever necessary the Company will engage suitably qualified technical personnel to carry out specialist due diligence prior to making an acquisition or an investment.
The Directors may offer new Ordinary Shares by way of consideration as well as cash, thereby helping to preserve the Company's cash for working capital and as a reserve against unforeseen contingencies including by way of example, and without limit, delays in collecting accounts receivable, unexpected changes in the economic environment and unforeseen operational problems. The Company may, in appropriate circumstances, issue debt securities or otherwise borrow money to complete an investment. There are no borrowing limits in the Articles of Association of the Company.
There are no restrictions in the type of investment that the Company might make nor on the type of opportunity that may be considered other than set out in this paragraph.
As the Ordinary Shares are traded on AIM this provides a facility for shareholders to realise their investment in the Company. In addition, the Directors may consider from time to time other means of facilitating returns to Shareholders including dividends, share repurchases, demergers, and schemes of arrangements or liquidation.
Chairman's Statement
Alecto Energy Chairman Malcolm James said, "I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Martin for his involvement with the Company and wish him all the best in his future endeavours. I am pleased to welcome Damian as a director of the Company and believe that his experience in project development will be of great assistance to Alecto as we pursue our investing policy."
**Ends**
For further information on the Company, visit: www.alectoenergy.com or contact:
| Alecto Energy plc | |
| Damian Conboy / Greg Kuenzel | Tel: +44 20 7182 1748 |
| Allenby Capital Limited | |
| Edward Hutton | Tel: +44 20 7510 8600 |