VLS.L Regulatory News (VLS)

18 Apr 2008 07:00

Oxford Catalysts Group PLC18 April 2008 18th April 2008 OXFORD CATALYSTS GROUP PLC ("Oxford Catalysts" or "the Company") Directorate Changes Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading catalyst innovator for clean fuels, ispleased to announce that as part of the business of the AGM, to be held on 14thMay 2008, it will be proposed that Susan Mary Robertson be appointed to theBoard of Directors of the Company. Susan joined Oxford Catalysts on 23rd October 2007 as Chief Financial Officerfollowing seventeen years at The BOC Group (now part of Linde AG). From itsinception in 2003 until 2006, Susan was Vice President and Chief FinancialOfficer of Japan Air Gases, then a £700 million turnover joint venture owned byThe BOC Group and Air Liquide. Susan's previous experience with The BOC Group includes finance, commercial andbusiness development roles in the UK, globally and at head office. She trainedas a chartered accountant with Arthur Andersen and has an economics degree fromCambridge University. At the same time, Professor Malcolm Green (Non-executive Director), Dr TiancunXiao (Executive Director) and Dr Will Barton (Executive Director), will bestepping down from the Board at the AGM, although all will be remaining with theCompany. Dr Barton remains as Chief Operating Officer and Dr Xiao as ChiefScientific Officer; both will continue being closely involved in the managementof the Company as part of the Executive Management Committee. Professor Greenremains a consultant to the Company, as well as Chairman of the ScientificAdvisory Panel. The restructuring has been designed to streamline the Board and to meetcorporate governance best practice guidelines. Chairman, Dr Pierre Jungels, CBE said: "I would like to welcome Susan, and at the same time thank Malcolm, Tiancun andWill for their significant contributions to the Board. I look forward tocontinuing to work with all of them in the future. "Going forward the Board's shape will meet corporate governance best practiceguidelines with two Executive Directors and three Non-executive Directors,whilst at the same time being more appropriate for a company of the size ofOxford Catalysts." The Directorships and Partnerships held by Susan Mary Robertson (43), now, andover the five years preceding the date of appointment, are as follows: Current Directorships/Partnerships None. Directorships in the past five yearsDirector Japan Air Gases ltd, January 2003 to June 2006. As at the date of this announcement, Susan Robertson holds options over 62,893ordinary shares in the Company at an exercise price of £1.59 per share, whichwere granted on 1st April 2008 pursuant to the Company's EMI Option Scheme. There is no further information required to be disclosed under paragraph (g) ofSchedule 2 of the AIM rules. - Ends - For further information, please contact: Dr Pierre Jungels, CBE, Chairman, Oxford Catalysts 01235 841 700Jonathan Marren/Oliver Stratton, KBC Peel Hunt (Nomad & Broker) 020 7418 8900Billy Clegg/Alex Beagley, Financial Dynamics 020 7831 3113 Notes to Editors Oxford Catalysts Group PLC, the leading catalyst innovator for clean fuels,designs and develops specialty catalysts for the generation of clean fuels fromboth conventional fossil fuels and certain renewable sources such as bio-waste.Its patented technology is the result of almost 20 years of research at theUniversity of Oxford's prestigious Wolfson Catalysis Centre, headed by ProfessorMalcolm Green, one of the world's most respected inorganic chemists. OxfordCatalysts was founded by Professor Green and Dr Xiao in October 2004. Oxford Catalysts' strategy is to license its catalysts for commercialapplication by entering into co-development partnerships with leadingmanufacturers, producers and suppliers in the petroleum, petrochemicals, biogas,steam applications and catalysis markets. Oxford Catalysts has two key platform technologies. The first is for a novelclass of catalysts incorporating metal carbides, which can match or exceed thebenefits of traditional precious metal catalysts, at a lower cost, for severalkey processes used in the petroleum and petrochemical industries. Applicationsof these metal-carbide catalysts include the removal of sulphur from crude oilfractions (known as hydro-desulphurisation or HDS), the conversion of naturalgas, coal or bio-mass into virtually sulphur-free liquid fuels via theFischer-Tropsch reaction (known as the GTL, CTL and BTL processes respectively),and the transformation of biogas (waste methane) into syngas - the building block of liquid fuels. The second platform relates to a series of unique chemical reactions which canbe used to generate steam at temperatures between 100 degrees C and 800 degreesC+, instantaneously, starting from room temperature, using a cheap liquid fuelalongside the Company's patented catalysts. Such unprecedented Instant Steamcould have important applications in a broad range of markets, from cleaning anddisinfecting, to green energy in the form of motive power or electricity. Oxford Catalysts Group PLC is listed on London's AIM market (coding symbol OCG). www.oxfordcatalysts.com This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange