KEVIN Hart has been voted off the board of Bowleven following a campaign for a boardroom coup led by rebel investors but remains chief executive of the oil and gas company.
Investors in Edinburgh-based Bowleven passed resolutions requiring the removal of Mr Hart and four other directors from the board at a general meeting held by the firm.
The resolutions were requisitioned by Monaco-based Crown Ocean Capital, which also wanted Bowleven’s chairman Billy Allan ousted.
However, a resolution calling for the removal of Mr Allan was defeated.
Bowleven said Mr Hart and finance director Kerry Crawford had ceased office as directors with immediate effect. Non-executive directors John Martin, Tim Sullivan and Philip Tracy also ceased office.
But a spokesman for the company said the vote did not impact on Mr Hart's employment status as chief executive. Kerry Crawford is still with the company.
Mr Hart and Ms Crawford work on 12 months’ notice. The notice period has not been triggered for either.
Shareholders backed Crown Ocean’s calls for the appointment of two new directors, who will join chief operating officer David Clarkson and Mr Allan on the board.
Crown Ocean said the votes provided a mandate for the change of strategy it said was needed at Cameroon-focused Bowleven.
However, it was unclear yesterday what the consequences of the vote would be in terms of strategy.
Bowleven made no comment on what will happen next.
Mr Hart will remain in the position he has held since 2006 and will report to the four-strong board.
In a statement announcing the results of Tuesday’s meeting which was released early yesterday Bowleven noted that excluding the votes cast in respect of the shares held by Crown Ocean and its nominees all resolutions proposed at the general meeting would have been defeated by a significant margin.
Monaco-based Crown Ocean has amassed a 22 per cent holding in Aim-listed Bowleven’s shares.
Bowleven noted that major institutional shareholders had voted against the resolutions.
The meeting followed a bitter war of words between Crown Ocean and Bowleven.
Owned by German financiers Christian Petersmann and Konstantin Stoyanov, Crown Ocean had accused Bowleven of a catastrophic financial performance. It said Bowleven should be transformed into a holding company which would be able to return excess cash to shareholders.
However, Mr Allan had said Crown Ocean wanted to turn the company into a cash dispenser for its own benefit and lacked a strategy to maximise value from the company’s assets in Cameroon. The former board had said Bowleven’s Cameroon plans could deliver material upside while it had reduced overheads significantly.
The company employs around 20 people in Edinburgh.
Crown Ocean had said Bowleven should focus on the Etinde permit off Cameroon and stop work on the Bomono project onshore.
However, a company that agreed recently to buy in to Bomono, Victoria Oil & Gas, said it wanted to go ahead with the project. It had reserved the right to pull out if any of the resolutions proposed by Crown Ocean regarding Bowleven were passed.
Noting the results of Bowleven’s general meeting Victoria Oil & Gas said: “VOG continues to look forward to developing the Bomono project with Bowleven and will shortly be in contact with the board of Bowleven in this respect.”
Corporate lawyer Christopher Ashworth and turnaround expert Eli Chahin have joined Mr Clarkson and Mr Allan on the Bowleven board.
In a statement Crown Ocean Capital thanked fellow shareholders for the support they had shown for a change in leadership and direction at the Company.
It added: “Shareholders have provided the new board with a clear mandate to implement a new strategy.”
The resolution proposing Mr Hart be removed from the board won the support of 53.3 per cent of votes cast. It was supported by 25.3 per cent of votes cast excluding the 22 per cent held by Crown Ocean.
Shares in Aim-listed Bowleven closed down 1.25p at 33.25p.
Billy Allan succeeded Ronnie Hanna as chairman in December 2015.
Bowleven has made finds in Cameroon under Mr Hart but has not brought any onstream amid the volatile market conditions seen in recent years.
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