OlympicsFirst Calgary Petroleums CEO Anderson gone; Waterford nominees join board
- Richard Anderson is gone as chief executive of First Calgary Petroleums Ltd. (TSX:FCP) after dissident major shareholder Waterford Finance & Investment Ltd. carried the day in its campaign to revamp the company's board and shake up its management.
The two sides ended an acrimonious proxy battle Monday by announcing agreement on a revamped board made up of directors nominated by Waterford but still headed by current chairman Garfield Emerson, while Anderson has resigned effective immediately.
He will be replaced as president and CEO by Shane O'Leary, formerly chief operating officer, who before joining the Calgary-based developer of Algerian natural gas reserves in 2006 was an executive with EnCana and BP Amoco.
The new board slate will be voted on at First Calgary's annual meeting this Friday; the meeting had been delayed last week and was shaping up as a confrontation over Anderson's future.
Under the agreement with Waterford, which had claimed it held majority shareholder support for its position, Anderson will remain a consultant to FCP for about six months.
"We are eager to maintain and enhance the solid relationships that have been developed with Sonatrach and the Algerian Ministry of Energy and Mines and other partners of FCP," O'Leary stated.
"The board and I are committed to generating value for FCP shareholders and in that respect we will be moving the Algerian development project forward expeditiously and reviewing all options to maximize value."
Emerson said the agreement "is in the best interest of all shareholders" and the new board provides continuity while adding directors with extensive international and domestic energy experience.
"We are pleased that Mr. Anderson agreed to step aside as chief executive officer in order to facilitate this compromise with Waterford, in the interests of all shareholders," Emerson added.
"We are also pleased that Mr. Anderson has agreed to take on a consulting position with FCP, so that the company will continue to have access to his knowledge and relationships."
Waterford believes the new board "strikes the right balance of continuity, experience and expertise to provide support and guidance to the FCP management team, under the strategic leadership of Mr. O'Leary, to expeditiously move the company forward in its development of the Algerian project," stated Michael Kroupeev, director of the U.S. investment firm.
"While the events leading up to this point have been challenging, Waterford believes FCP will emerge stronger as a result."
Waterford and another institutional investor, Midocean Holdings, blamed Anderson for the failure of a move to sell the company in 2004. Since then, First Calgary shares have fallen from above $20 to close Friday at $2.31 on the TSX.
Waterford, which owns 9.4 per cent of First Calgary, introduced motions last month demanding the removal of Anderson as chief executive and a director.
Kroupeev wanted someone more experienced than Anderson to bring the Algerian gas play, estimated to contain 600 million barrels of oil equivalent, on line by 2010.
First Calgary had argued against changing leadership which it said had a constructive but potentially fragile relationship with the Algerian government.
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