New Empower Revised Preliminary Proxy
I see a revised preliminary proxy statement is out from the Empower group today, adding Andrew Windham to their slate of nominees. Interestingly, the SEC filing has a redlined and clean copy of the proxy solicitation. Some of the new points in this version include:
1. Strategy / Plan
a."In terms of leveraging our strong relationships in Guinea, we plan to engage with the government to work to secure the concession for and with the consortium even past the concession end-date of September 2016. Although securing the concession for a period after September 2016 cannot be guaranteed, especially in relation to Guinea's petroleum code, we believe that the strong relationships in Guinea which our director nominees have and the efforts that will be made to rebuild confidence in the Company and consortium will position the Company well to achieve this goal. " (emphasis added)
Comment - so it looks like their plan is to try to extend drilling beyond September. In terms of "strong Guinea relationships", The only sign of any experience in Guinea I could find in the CVs was for Wilson, who was involved an IPO for a start up that intended to work in Guinea. Windham left Tullow before they became involved in Guinea.
b. They think the lawsuit was premature and is not the best strategic option-
"Although we will not shy away from taking the steps needed to protect and further the Company's interest, we believe that the lawsuit was premature and our director nominees will look to work with key stakeholders to secure the concession for after September 2016 as well as to initiate the process of the necessary steps in exploration and development of the next well for as soon as possible."
Comment- Some mushy wording here but looks like they would drop/not push the lawsuit and try to extend the concession deadline. They also say: "Members of our director nominees are committed to spending as much time as required in Guinea and to traveling anywhere else that is needed to achieve this part of our plan." Gee, that's comforting that they are willing to travel.
They still have the same strategy for a new acquisition :
"...we believe the current low oil price environment also creates a unique opportunity to leverage Hyperdynamics' position and public company status as well as the support indicated to our director nominees by potential future investors and partners to create a very focused high impact Africa oil explorer with targeted world-class assets." (emphasis added).
This could be a good thing, if current shareholders are protected; but it could also be a significant issuance if a large number of new shares are issued to raise capital at lower share prices and major dilution of current shareholders; so I guess it's a case of "trust me.."
Lastly, they've added this little gem of a disclaimer:
"...However, given that our nominees will have the majority of the board seats if all of our four director nominees are elected, we will be subject to fiduciary duties and may or may not be able to adopt all of our stated proposals... " (emphasis added).
Comment- In other words- forget everything we said about our plans, because we might not be able to legally or ethically execute them.
Finally I note that, according to the release, Wilson still has his one share, purchased on October 26 for $1.27. At least he has some skin in the game... /sarc
JMHO
