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After the close results of Tuesday’s EGM, Bowleven needed a strong Chair to unite this divided company. Unfortunately for shareholders Billy Allan, who does not own any shares in the company, has proven he is not that person. Unable to rise above the petty self-interest that has steered Bowleven’s corporate strategy for so long, Allan has blocked any attempt to remove Kevin Hart and Kerry Crawford from their executiv

This morning the Sunday Times reported that Kevin Hart, Billy Allen and the other targeted directors are going to resign immediately before Tuesday’s EGM. Hopefully the new board will still publish the voting figures, as the indications received by this website strongly suggest the result would have been a landslide. Retail shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of Crown Ocean’s resolutions. Having destroyed sha

After the market closed Bowleven announced that its second major shareholder, Artemis Investment Management, today sold its remaining stake in the company to Crown Ocean. Thanks to the mobilisation of the retail vote, the board was already dead and buried at the forthcoming EGM vote. This sale this wasn’t so much a final nail in the coffin but more the elaborate decoration of a carefully crafted headstone. If he does

Excuse the terrible pun in the title, but today is obviously a day for awful jokes. This morning Bowleven announced the long awaited “farm out” of Bomono to Victoria Oil & Gas (AIM:VOG). Over the coming weeks, when Kevin Hart sits down to fill in his new CV, he’ll now be able to claim that as CEO of Bowleven he completed not one, but two of these deals. It’s just a shame for shareholders he managed to destroy hun

The last two desperate RNSs from Bowleven have been quite tragic. The current directors have franticly boasted that they’ve managed to enlist the support of three proxy advisors, who have each recommended shareholders vote against the resolutions at the forthcoming EGM. This will do nothing to influence the outcome of the vote. If anything it is an early admission of defeat. Proxy advisors write research reports to h

Although Bowleven has set the voting deadline for Friday 10 March at 11am, if you are going to vote through your broker you need to submit your vote as soon as you can. Each broker sets its own deadline for submission of votes, usually about a week before the actual deadline. This gives the brokers the chance to compile the votes they receive and send them in before the deadline cut-off date. A number of firms’ deadl

Energy Voice earlier published a joint statement from Crown Ocean’s board nominees, Eli Chahin and Chris Ashworth. The full article can be read here. I’ve published the statement below. After the condescending email I received from Bowleven on the independence issue, I’ve got to admit today’s sabre rattling has been just a little satisfying. Statement from Chahin and Ashworth: “As proposed independent directors at th

A number of investors have written to this site asking how they can vote. If you have bought your shares through one of the major execution only stockbrokers (e.g. Barclays Stockbrokers, Hargreaves Landsown, TD Direct Investing etc.) then voting at the Bowleven EGM is incredibly easy. Here’s how. Brokers typically hold shares you own in a “pooled nominee” account. This means the broker brings together all the shares

On Friday Bowleven’s board issued a rebuttal to Crown Ocean’s damning open letter to shareholders. The board focussed on ten issues it believes Crown Ocean has misrepresented, with the chief complaint being how much the directors have earned. Crown Ocean claims “The Board were awarded remuneration totalling US$44 million over ten years.” Bowleven’s board tells us “The correct figure is US$33 million”. Who is right? I

As Bowleven’s directors screamed “asset strippers” in today’s unnecessarily dramatic EGM Circular, they failed to address the primary complaint levelled against them. On their watch Bowleven has become no better than a lifestyle company. The cosy board pays itself generously, requires nothing in terms of performance and exhibits little financial discipline. With such a bloated, inefficient management structure it is