Nadhim Zahawi
and
the Afren Connections
and Shahid Ullah (COO)
were found guilty of fraud and money laundering offences in 2018 from which they personally received more than $17m and laundered $45m by deceiving the Afren Board into agreeing a $300m business deal. Effectively they agreed a back-hander and bribe from the contract with the 'business partner'. It would appear the company was corrupt from the top down.
He is still listed here
'Prinicipal(Sic) Founder & Strategic Advisor Afren plc - Present 19 years'
despite all the Afren companies appearing to have been dissolved? Very strange. Mr Cooper seems to have escaped censure for the company's failings. The only biographical information on his Linkedin page is 'Yale. Economics. 1974'.
Video: Shahenshah Says Afren Expects a Net Profit Every Year
Aged nine, he watched his father Hareth flee Baghdad. An entrepreneur, Hareth had fallen foul of Saddam Hussein’s Ba’ath party for refusing to join its ranks. Tipped off to a raid on his house the night before, he boarded a one-way Swissair flight to London in 1978.
His father’s company — then called the Al-Zahawi Group, but now known as Iraq Projects Business Development (IPBD) — quickly procured a contract to provide cleaning, logistics and support services to the new US-led interim government, based at Hussein’s Republican Palace.
At the start of the pandemic he intervened to help facilitate a new business opportunity for Greensill Capital. Greensill provided £400mn of credit to entities linked to GFG Alliance, the conglomerate owned by steel tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, after the loans were backed by the government as part of its Covid support measures for the economy.
Following exerpt from: https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/uk-news/2023/01/24/nadhim-zahawis-brush-with-uk-taxman-not-his-first-financial-controversy/
Mr Zahawi was paid more than £1 million over two years as a part-time adviser to an oil company operating in the Gulf.
However, his income at the time from Gulf Keystone Petroleum was met with criticism from shareholders — who had seen their investment drop from a share price of 425p to 104p. There was no suggestion of any impropriety by Mr Zahawi.
He worked as chief strategy officer for Gulf Keystone Petroleum, a British oil and gas exploration and production company in Iraq.
During his time at the company from 2015 to 2017, he accrued more than £1 million in salary and bonuses, according to his registered list of interests.
Before his resignation from Gulf Keystone Petroleum in 2018, he was being paid £30,000 a month for working eight to 21 hours a week.
The co-founder of Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Todd Kozel, was sentenced to jail in the US last year for wilful failure to file tax returns from 2011 to 2015. He was ordered to pay $29.5 million.
Before joining Gulf Keystone Petroleum, Mr Zahawi was an adviser for oil group Afren.
Its former executives, Osman Shahenshah and Shahid Ullah, were jailed in 2018 for fraud and money laundering offences over Nigerian oil deals worth $300 million. The UK's Serious Fraud Office recently confiscated £5.45 million from them.
Following from: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/tory-minister-nadhim-zahawi-pockets-25457511
Mr Zahawi was co-chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Kurdistan in 2015 when he landed the job with Gulf Keystone, which has an oil field in Kurdistan and which paid him more than £1,000 an hour.
Mr Zahawi’s father Hareth Zahawi’s firm Iraqi Project and Building Development was already involved in construction projects in Kurdistan. One source told the Mirror IPBD also had a monthly contract with Afren. The Mirror has found an archived page from the IPBD website which stated it had a joint venture with Sirwan Barzani, the nephew of Masoud Barzani, who was President of Kurdistan from 2005 to 2017.
Sirwan Barzani has been accused in US court documents of corruption at his Iraqi telecoms company, but denies the “baseless” claims.
Nadhim Zahawi’s register of interests shows Zahawi & Zahawi Ltd advised IPBD from 2011 to 2019. It is not known how much the role paid and there is no suggestion Mr Zahawi or his father knew of any corruption.
Zahawi & Zahawi Ltd was an adviser to Afren from 2012 to 2015, according to the register of members’ interests, but it is not known how much the role paid. Mr Zahawi quit Afren after the Serious Fraud Office began a bribery investigation, which led to two Afren executives being jailed for fraud and money laundering.
The following from: https://www.cityam.com/two-former-uk-oil-executives-sentenced-30-years-fraud-and/
The former chief executive and chief operating officer of collapsed oil firm Afren have been sentenced to 30 years in jail for fraud and money laundering offences committed while in charge of the company, the Serious Fraud Office said today.
Former chief executive Osman Shahenshah and former operations chief Shahid Ullah received more than $45m (£35m) from a $300m business deal they recommended to their firm Afren, some of which was used to buy luxury properties in the Caribbean.
But not as bad as it sounds - the jail terms were concurrent! Following from:https://punchng.com/ex-afren-bosses-jailed-for-30-years-over-nigerian-oil-deal/
Shahenshah was said to have received six years jail for one count of fraud; six years concurrent for one count of money laundering; and four years concurrent for one count of money laundering. Ullah received five years jail for one count of fraud; five years concurrent for one count of money laundering; and four years concurrent for one count of money laundering.
“The men then used the $45m to purchase luxury properties in Mustique and the British Virgin Islands. A smaller portion of the $45m laundered was split between Oriental employees and a close network of Afren staff dubbed ‘The A Team’.”
Also a £5.45 conviscation order.
A torrid year for oil producer Afren came to a bitter end today when it called in the administrators, having failed to agree a new funding deal with lenders.The London-listed company - which was unceremoniously turfed out of the FTSE 250 earlier this year - is one of the first casualties of oil prices, which have plummeted to below $50 per barrel this year, and are expected to fall even lower.
But it's not just oil prices that hit Afren - a crisis in its boardroom meant when the storm hit, it was focused elsewhere.Here's a run down of the one-time stock market darling's fall from grace...
http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/nigerian-banks-may-lose-n36-6bn-to-afren-liquidation/218279/
Nigerian banks are in danger of losing a whopping N36.630 billion ($185 million) if Afren Plc (in administration) is liquidated.
Afren Plc’s woes reached a tipping point recently when the company provided an update on the outcome of the discussions with its lenders, shareholders, senior creditors and bond holders.
In a statement released to newsmen, the board of the company publicly announced that the company had gone into administration after a town hall meeting with all the staff in Houston, London, Lagos and Port Harcourt.
Prior to now, Afren had served as a technical contractor in a PSTSA before its misfortune started in July 2014.
In a report on the possible implications for Nigerian banks if the Afren is liquidated, analysts at Renaissance Capital concluded that Zenith Bank Plc is in the most comfortable position, followed by Access Bank Plc, and then Stanbic IBTC Plc.
Renaissance Capital said: “According to Afren documents, Nigerian banks have at least a $185million principal exposure to AfrenPlc. Zenith Bank has $100 million to OML26, $5million to Ebok; AccessBank has $50million to Okwok/OML113 (Aje), $5million to Ebok; and Stanbic has $25million to Ebok.”
They added, “From our discussions with Zenith management and Renaissance Capital’s oil & gas analysts, we believe that of all the banks with credit exposure to Afren, Zenith is in the most comfortable position. The asset is producing, located onshore, and has low operating costs, which implies that its production economics still make some sense at currently low oil prices.
“The February 2014 facility is primarily secured by a charge over Afren’s interest (via FHN 26 – the SPV) in OML26, and its cash flows. According to Zenith management, other Afren creditors do not have claim to OML26. We do not think Afren plans to sell this asset and our oil & gas analysts believe that its cash flows should be sufficient to repay the loan, valuing the asset at $114million.”
Access Bank, they explained, has a first-ranking lien on the Okwok and Aje fields noting that some of the bank’s claims are subject to counterparty consent.
“Both assets are offshore and not producing. While most of the $50million was spent developing Okwok, Aje is expected to produce first, by late 2015; Okwok production could happen in 2016/2017. At $50/bl, our oil & gas analysts value Okwok negatively at $161million and Aje at $45million, implying 90% potential credit recovery for Access (facility recovery value largely dependent on Aje),”they said.
On the Ebok assets, they stressed “Ebok is located offshore and is Afren’s largest producing field. Afren has a $300million syndicated facility from a series of local and international banks on this asset. While the loan was originally secured using Ebok reserves, cash flows and material contracts, the creditors’ rights were relegated via an inter-creditor agreement on 30 April 2015, when Afren secured life-saving interim funding of $200million.”
According to them, this implies that in a liquidation scenario, the providers of the interim funding have a superior lien to the Ebok creditors and bondholders.
“At a $50/bl long-term oil price and at 15 per cent WACC, our oil & gas analysts value Afren’s share in Ebok at $158million unrisked NPV, leading us to conclude that the creditors would likely have to write off this exposure,” they said.
Renaissance said after speaking to bank management teams and reading multiple documents on Afren, “we think the devil is in the detail. We view the feedback from the banks as the optimistic scenario and note that there are legal and contractual technicalities that could cause significant losses with regard to exposure to Afren.”
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/212dd6ee-3ac0-11e5-8613-07d16aad2152.html#axzz3jpqTKFZv
August 5, 2015 12:21 pm
Investors expecting to retrieve any value from their holdings in Afren, the scandal-hit oil explorer that entered administration last week, will be sorely disappointed.
People familiar with Afren are predicting its stakes in key assets such as the Ebok and Okoro oilfields in Nigeria will be taken over by either the Nigerian government or its local business partners.
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IN OIL & GAS
That pessimism is echoed in Afren’s bonds, which are currently trading as low as 2 cents on the dollar, compared with about 40 cents in June.
“There is a material risk that there might not be much to share at the end of the day,” says Stephane Foucaud, an oil analyst at brokerage FirstEnergy Capital.
Afren’s announcement last Friday that it had begun insolvency proceedings was the denouement of a complex, protracted drama that brought a once promising oil explorer to its knees. The Nigeria-focused company found itself at the eye of a perfect storm, dragged down by a collapsing oil price, corporate governance abuses and a mountain of debt.
The London-listed explorer had once looked like an African success story. Fields such as Ebok threw off cash, especially when oil was at $100, and retail investors piled into the stock. The company’s market capitalisation grew from $73m when it listed on AIM in 2005 to $2.6bn in March last year. “It was seen as a highly credible producer which turned round the perception of Nigeria,” said one western energy banker.
Last year, the company’s prospects dramatically changed. In July the board suspended chief executive Osman Shahenshah and chief operating officer, Shahid Ullah over “unauthorised payments” that had come to light in an independent review.
The timing was dire. Afren was heavily in debt, but was just days away from signing a refinancing deal with creditors to relieve some of the pressure on its balance sheet. When the suspicious payments came to light, the banks balked.
In October, the company announced the results of an investigation by law firm Willkie, Farr & Gallagher, which found that Messrs Shahenshah and Ullah had struck a secret financing deal in October 2013 with Oriental, one of Afren’s Nigerian partners. Oriental had agreed to pay 15 per cent of cash flows from the Ebok field over four years to an entity registered in the British Virgin Islands and controlled by Messrs Shahenshah and Ullah. WFG said the two men used the funds to pay “extraordinary bonuses” to themselves. Afren’s board fired them for gross misconduct.
A new temporary chief executive, Toby Hayward, was appointed, but he lacked operational experience of the oil industry. “Afren went into a period where the business did not have clear leadership,” said a person familiar with the company.
Mr Hayward started searching for a saviour. Takeover talks were held with Seplat, a Nigerian oil group, but bondholders were reluctant to take the haircut that would have been needed to complete a deal and discussions were abandoned.
Afren’s string of bad news was becoming longer. In January, it admitted it had overstated its reserves in Barda Rash, an oilfield in Iraqi Kurdistan, reducing its highest estimate from 1.2bn barrels to just 250m.
The share price went into freefall. Having reached 169.30p in late December 2013, by January this year it had fallen to 4.20p. The stock fell again in March when Afren defaulted on a $15m interest payment.
But later that month, Afren’s fortunes briefly looked as if they might improve. The company agreed a recapitalisation plan with its lenders involving $300m of new funding by the end of June and hired Alan Linn, an oil industry veteran, as its new chief executive.
Boosted by $200m in emergency funding from bondholders, Mr Linn set about trying to right the ship. But he soon discovered Afren’s affairs were in an even worse state than previously thought. The cash crunch had led to project delays, so Afren’s near-term production was set to be much lower than assumed in the business plan that formed the basis of its bailout deal. Last month Afren came clean on the production issue and requested that trading in its shares be suspended.
Shareholders were due to vote in July on a rights issue and the issuance of new shares, key elements of the bailout plan. But Afren called off the vote, and told investors they would have to stump up another $250m to keep the company afloat. They refused.
“The bondholders had thrown a lot of money at the problem, but just ran out of patience,” said one person familiar with the company.
By last week, time had run out for Afren. On Friday it called in administrators.
In a statement it said that discussions with lenders, bondholders and partners had “failed to deliver support for a revised refinancing and restructuring proposal that would result in Afren being able to pay its debts as they fall due”.
Now, investors could be wiped out, say people familiar with the company. Afren’s negotiating position is weak because, unlike its partners, it does not own its underlying assets, instead controlling them through technical service contracts or so-called “farm-in” agreements.
“If you default in Nigeria, the assets go to the government or to the indigenous partners who have the licence,” said FirstEnergy Capital’s Mr Foucaud.
By Andrew Critchlow, Commodities editor
12:08PM BST 31 Jul 2015
Afren has become the first corporate victim of the slump in oil prices after the Aim-listed company called in administrators.
The decision by the board follows months of wrangling to refinance its debts. The board said in January that it required a $200m cash injection in order to survive.
In a statement to the stock exchange, Afren said: "The board believes that all the possible routes have now been explored during the course of this process."
Earlier this year the company revealed pre-tax losses of $1.95bn due largely to a $900m impairment charge against falling oil prices and the write-off of its Barda Rash reserves in Kurdistan. The loss compared with a $140m profit in the previous year. Revenue fell to $946m from $1.64bn.
The board has appointed Alix Partners as adminstrators and said that it's in discussion with partners to continue with its operating businesses.
Alix partners said in a statement that Afren was "facing critical liquidity issues following the identification of a significant drop in near-term production during its recent operational review".
The adminstrator added: "The board explored a full range of options with a view to identifying a restructuring solution to mitigate the impact of this shortfall but regrettably such a solution could not be found. Our role now as administrators is to work alongside all stakeholders to determine the best possible route forward under these challenging circumstances."
Afren has faced problems since last year when it was forced to fire its then chief executive Osman Shahenshah and chief operating officer Shahid Ullah in October. A review alleged they had both received unauthorised payments from third parties.
Investors in the African-focused oil explorer have suffered a torrid year. Last May, the shares were worth more than 160p each, but the stock was last trading at 1.7p.
The company's demise comes as the entire oil industry struggles to adjust to oil prices below $60 per barrel. Oil majors across the sector have this week reported lower earnings and announced thousands of job cuts over the next year as they race to slash their cost base. Afren is arguably the first victim of the rout in oil prices.
Danny Fortson Published: 9 August 2015 http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Companies/article1591196.ece
ADMINISTRATORS of Afren have launched a fire sale of its prize assets as fresh details emerge of the secret offshore pay scheme that triggered the oil producer’s collapse.
Afren shocked the market last year when it discovered an offshore vehicle that had been set up by former chief executive Osman Shahenshah to pay himself and a clique of 10 other top executives $45m (£29m) in secret bonuses.
The revelation sent Afren, at the time worth £1.2bn and coming off a year of record profits from its Nigerian oil operations, into a tailspin. It filed for insolvency protection nine days ago.
The company’s adviser, Blackstone, hopes to dismantle the remains of Afren by selling its biggest assets by the end of this month. Information memoranda were sent to several suitors this weekend.
The price of Brent crude, which is used for petrol production, has fallen from $115 a barrel to close to $45.
GuardianTerry MacalisterEnergy editor
Friday 31 July 201512.52 BST http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/jul/31/afren-enters-administration-after-oil-price-slump-and-boardroom-strife
Plummeting oil prices and internal boardroom upheaval have forced the London-listed Afren exploration company into administration.
Crisis management consultants from AlixPartners were brought in after Afren failed to find financial backers to meet a growing cash crisis at the firm, which produces oil in Nigeria and the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
“The board believes that all the possible routes have now been explored during the course of this process, which was subject to a strict timetable, driven by Afren plc’s short-term liquidity issues,” said Afren in a statement.
“These discussions have failed to deliver support for a revised refinancing and restructuring proposal that would result in Afren being able to pay its debts as they fall due.”
Afren first revealed in January that it was in desperate need of a $200m (£132m) cash injection as the international price of Brent crude fell from $115 a barrel to close to $45.
Its problems escalated with the suspension and later exit of Osman Shahenshah, its chief executive. Shahid Ullah, the chief operating officer, also left last year over the receipt of unauthorised payments.
Last month, Egbert Imomoh, the company’s founder and executive chairman, and four non-executive directors did not stand for re-election at the annual general meeting.
In a separate development, its larger rival BG reported a 65% slump in second-quarter net income to $429m. The company is in the middle of a planned takeover by Shell, which is expected to be completed early next year.
By Peter Stephens - Thursday, 6 August, 2015 http://www.fool.co.uk/investing/2015/08/06/will-gulf-keystone-petroleum-limited-follow-afren-plc-into-administration/
In what has been akin to an emotional rollercoaster for investors in Afren (LSE: AFR), the oil exploration company was finally put into administration last week. While it had been coming for a long, long time, there is still a degree of surprise that Afren was unable to continue as a going concern.
After all, and despite having huge debts that it simply could not service, in recent weeks there had been some hope among investors that under the terms of a new financial restructuring package, the company could continue and begin to mount a comeback. However, with production levels falling dramatically and the company being unable to reach a new agreement with its creditors, Afren’s time was up and, as a result, its investors walk away with a 100% loss.
Clearly, this is hugely disappointing for investors in Afren. Certainly, companies going bust is nothing new and, as investors, we accept this risk in order to gain access to the considerable rewards that shares can also offer. And, in Afren’s case, the main cause of its woes was an external factor (the collapse in the price of oil) which prompted the risks it had taken with regard to large levels of debt to come home to roost. In other words, it took a risk in leveraging its balance sheet and, with revenue having fallen, became unviable as a business.
Therefore, the question must be asked: if it can happen to Afren, could it happen to other oil explorers and producers?
Without doubt, the answer to that question is ‘yes’. And, on the face of it, the outlook for Iraq/Kurdistan-focused oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LSE: GKP) is not good. That’s because, like Afren, it has a considerable amount of debt on its balance sheet and, more importantly, it is still not receiving the monies owed to it for oil sales from the Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG). Certainly, the KRG has stated that it intends to commence a regular payment cycle from next month, but details on exactly how much cash this will mean for Gulf Keystone Petroleum remains unclear.
With the KRG expecting an increase in production in 2016, it has stated that it intends to increase payments moving forward. While this is encouraging news for Gulf Keystone Petroleum, hopes for cash inflows have been built up before and, as yet, the company is still waiting for a backlog of payments. In fact, to such an extent that it is now selling oil domestically at a cut price.
Undoubtedly, Gulf Keystone Petroleum has a hugely appealing asset base that, in the long run, has the potential to deliver vast levels of profit. The problems it faces, however, are also considerable. As well as a lack of cash receipts for oil that has already been produced, it faces the prospect of a continued low oil price as well as the potential for increased political instability in a region that remains a conflict zone.
As such, and while Gulf Keystone Petroleum may not follow Afren into administration, its risk/reward ratio appears to be unfavourable, thereby making it a stock to avoid at the present time.
Of course, there are a number of stocks that could be worth buying right now and, with that in mind, the analysts at The Motley Fool have written a free and without obligation guide called 1 Top Small-Cap Stock From The Motley Fool.
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Peter Stephens has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don't all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.
Afren (LON:AFR) -There
are more questions than answers…
The
situation at Afren appears
to get worse and I cant help but feel that there is something very
suspicious going on here. I read with interest that leading oil
trader Gunvor has expressed an interest in some of Afren’s
African assets which must be good news for the investors who may lose
everything. However I also note that they have been given only until
August 17th to come up with a bid on the assets they are interested
in. How can it be possible to value and do even the vaguest of due
diligence in a week, and also if the administrators are doing their
job, surely any possible interest must be explored to the maximum
benefit of all who have lost money? And they are saying its not a
fire sale which doesnt rub with the above, unless they have other
buyers in the wings… The administrators appointed by the company
are Alix Partners but maybe questions should be asked of the Ad Hoc
Bondholders Committee and also why Blackstone are involved, who they
report to and why? Oh well, i’m sure there is a totally innocent
explanation…
http://www.shareprophets.com/views/10285/what-does-the-latest-news-mean-for-afren
What does the latest news mean for Afren?
By Gary Newman | Tuesday 27 January 2015
Just when you think that Afren (AFR) can’t get any worse it seems to have the ability to release another piece of news that trashes the share price!
It was only last Friday when I wrote a piece here looking at whether putting any money into Afren was worth the risk, and since then around 60% has been wiped off of its market cap.
Things certainly look bleak the way it is heading, and Tom Winnifrith’s assessment of it potentially going bust (see HERE again in BearCast TODAY) is certainly looking more likely now.
In terms of the downside the company still needs to defer the $50 million amortisation payment due at the end of this month, and meet its other debt payments ($15 million in interest to the 2016 bondholders due in a few days time), plus a restructuring of its debts. All of which I mentioned in my previous article.
Today’s statement from the company goes into far more detail than the previous one, from less than a week ago, and I have to wonder why the company didn’t put out this statement in response to the Sky news reports, rather than the flimsy response at the time which lacked any real detail!
In terms of the restructuring of the debt, this would not only need to cover the existing debt but also provide further credit to meet current working capital, debt repayments and capital expenditure for this year – even though the latter will be at a significantly reduced level from what had been planned.
If this additional funding was to be raised via equity, then given the current market cap of around £80 million, the amount needed would be well in excess of that and I would expect a rights issue – which would dilute existing shareholdings if you were unable to take up the rights.
Bond holders in Afren have already hired restructuring specialists Blackstone to advise them on their options, and the company has stated that it is in discussions with them, and possible new investors.
In the background to all of this we still have fellow Nigerian oil producer, Seplat, and an ongoing bid situation. Although this still looks more likely to be a merger deal if anything comes of these discussions – the latest RNS even mentions it in terms of a ‘possible combination with Afren’.
The latest update also revealed that the company had a cash balance of $235 million at the end of December, but that it was restricted due to operational commitments, and that it had still engaged in significant amounts of capital expenditure towards the end of 2014.
I bought a small amount here at 21.4p as a possible recovery play – as disclosed in my last piece – and am still holding those as the possible outcomes haven’t really changed.
For any upside potential, either a deal will be done with Seplat in terms of a merger, or the company restructures its finances in a way that gives it the capital it needs to operate throughout 2015.
Currently I wouldn’t like to call it either way, as there have been very few large shorts running (although some of the hedged positions haven’t shown up on the FCA net short disclosures spreadsheet) and some institutional investors have been adding – maybe in anticipation of a rights issue at low prices.
Plus around the time my last piece was written credit ratings agency, Fitch, downgraded it to ‘B-‘ status based on the revelations about the amortization payment – which was hardly an indication that even they saw it as about to go bust!
Any sort of default though would effectively mean that equity holdings would be worthless. Even though the share price has dropped significantly the gamble is still the same, and I certainly wouldn’t be throwing any more money at it just because the share price has dropped further!
23 March 2015 7:57am
http://www.cityam.com/212197/afren-informs-serious-fraud-office-expense-payment-concerns
Troubled oil firm Afren has notified the Serious Fraud Office of concerns over expenses payments thrown up by a review by its legal advisers.
Afren said the concerns arose from work by its law firm Willkie Farr & Gallagher "regarding the hire of an individual within its operations in 2012 and the payment of certain travel and accommodation expenses connected to Afren's activities".
The oil company has informed the Serious Fraud Office and its lenders. It also said it has "taken steps to halt its previous practices in relation to such expenses payments".
"The company takes its compliance with all laws extremely seriously and we are committed to ensuring that our business is not undermined by breaches of our internal policies or applicable legislation," said executive chairman Egbert Imomoh.
It's the latest in a string of troubles for the oil firm, whose share price has plummeted, leaving shareholders holding just 11 per cent of the company after the refinancing agreement.
Afren shares opened four per cent down on Friday's close of 3.25 pence per share but recovered, inching up slightly to 3.53 pence per share at pixel time.
Tue Aug 11, 2015 9:46am EDT
Related: BANKRUPTCY http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/08/11/idUSFWN10M03C20150811
BRIEF-Afren says administrators appoint Blackstone as financial advisors, reviewing assets
Aug 11 Afren Plc
* Appointed simon appell, daniel imison and catherine williamson of alixpartners as administrators
* No other company within Afren Group has appointed administrators or taken any other step to commence insolvency proceedings
Administrators currently undertaking a review of all assets; have appointed blackstone group as financial advisors Source text for Eikon: Further company coverage:
2015-01-30 12:38 “Strong BUY”
Blackstone
Group LP, the biggest alternative-asset manager, is “scrambling”
to invest more than $10 billion in energy companies after the price
of oil plunged, the firm’s president said.
“Our
people are scrambling and trying to come up for air,” Tony James
said on a call with reporters today discussing Blackstone’s
fourth-quarter earnings.
“Everything
just got hammered at once. There’s clearly some very interesting
values in the credit markets just buying debt at big discounts to
face and getting equity-like returns.”
Oil’s
58% tumble since June has rippled through markets, erasing more than
$15 billion from the portfolios of more than a dozen private equity
firms, according to data compiled on 28 publicly traded energy
producers.
The
leaders of the private equity firms also say it’s creating
opportunities to invest in distressed oil producers. High-yield bonds
tied to energy companies have slumped 17% since oil prices
peaked.
“The
recent freefall in energy prices will prove to be relatively
short-term,” James said. “So we view this as a good buying
opportunity.”
Blackstone
and its biggest peers, including Carlyle Group LP, KKR & Co. and
Apollo Global Management LLC, have raised more than $15 billion
recently for energy investing. Blackstone, in addition to closing a
$4.5 billion energy fund this month, is asking its clients for more
than $1 billion to buy bonds of troubled energy producers and to
provide rescue financing, a person with knowledge of the plans said
this week.
“Emergency
sales of assets or companies looking to either sell themselves or get
an equity infusion — we are seeing all of that,” said
James.
Blackstone’s
credit unit, GSO Capital Partners, earlier this month committed as
much as $500 million to fund oil and gas development for Linn Energy
LLC.
Under
the five-year agreement, Blackstone would fund drilling programs at
locations selected by Houston-based Linn for an 85% working interest
in the wells.
James,
63, spoke while addressing Blackstone’s fourth-quarter earnings.
The results, while lower than the firm’s record quarter a year
earlier, exceeded analysts’ estimates, driven by sales of private
equity holdings.
Blackstone
also reported assets under management of $290 billion, the highest
among peers.
Economic
net income, a measure of earnings excluding some costs, declined 6%
to $1.45 billion, or $1.25 cents a share, from $1.54 billion, or
$1.35 a share, a year ago, Blackstone said.
Annual Chairman's Letter 2014: The Art of the Long View
https://www.blackstone.com/news-views/blackstone-blog/blog-details/annual-chairman's-letter-2014-the-art-of-the-long-view
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The Owners
Larry A. Silverstein was appointed a director of Westfield America in May 1997. Since 1979, Mr. Silverstein has been President of Silverstein Properties, Inc., a Manhattan-based real estate investment and development firm which owns interests in and operates over 10 million square feet of office space. Mr. Silverstein is a member of the New York Bar, and a Governor of the Real Estate Board of New York, having served as its Chairman. He is a trustee of New York University and is the founder and Chairman Emeritus of the New York University Real Estate Institute. He is Chairman of the Realty Foundation, Vice Chairman of the South Street Seaport Museum, and a board member of the Museum of Jewish Heritage.
BLACKSTONE ACQUIRES DEBT ON 7 WORLD TRADE CENTER
New York, NY October 17, 2000: Blackstone Real Estate Advisors, the global real estate investment and management arm of The Blackstone Group, L.P., announced today that it has purchased, from Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association, the participating mortgage secured by 7 World Trade Center, a commercial office complex controlled by real estate developer Larry Silverstein�
http://www.blackstone.com/news/press_releases%5C7_world_trade_oct_2000.pdf
Factsheet on Teachers Insurance and Annuity Associaion (TIAA) (note: Joseph W. Luik is probably the guy who brokered the deal for TIAA)
�But before the building can rise further than the substation, major financing issues have to be resolved by Larry Silverstein, who controls the long-term lease on 7 World Trade Center as well as the World Trade Center complex. The good news for Mr. Silverstein is that the company that insured 7 World Trade, Industrial Risk Insurers, has indicated that it will make a full payment under its $861 million policy. But it's not clear whether Mr. Silverstein can use those proceeds to start building without first reaching an agreement with the mortgage holder on 7 World Trade Center, Blackstone Real Estate Advisors.�
http://homes.wsj.com/columnists_com/bricks/20020710-bricks.html
�According to BestWire, Employers Reinsurance Corp's Industrial Risk Insurers has agreed to pay a claim for 7 World Trade Center, but a final price has yet to be settled. Some of the insurance proceeds will be used to pay off bondholders who bought part of the building's US$383 million mortgage. Larry Silverstein, the building's developer and leaseholder of the WTC twin towers, has said the claim for 7 World Trade Center will be US$861 million�
Hi Mr Bowden, I admire your work Gordon. I just wondered if you had come across the recent case of Afren, whose share price in a matter of weeks crashed from about 150 to nothing and is now in administration? Misappropriation on grand scale to Virgin Islands involved and of course all share holders defrauded. Now American (banking and CIA connections well known) are acting as advisors. Kind regards, Tim Veater. (veattimot@aol.com) (p.s. If you have time or inclination some of my thoughts can be found on Inquiring minds or elsewhere by just typing in my name into google!)
4 hours ago
Hi Tim. Thanks friend. Yep, AFREN nailed them years ago in 2006 via my research through Guido Edward Pas Director ID 909758796 and his involvement through OXUS GOLD PLC and VGM PLC complicit Directors with major interconnected Con Artist MARK MICHAEL WELLESLEY -WOOD and how they, using EXACTLY the same "Modus Operandi" stole over a US$billion vis DRD GOLD and JCI (London) Limited exposed later through Australia Broadcast ABC 4 CORNERS "BAD COMPANY and murdered Brett Kebble who was going to blow their whole network that steal £Billions through THOUSANDS of Fake Fraud "Virtual" PONZI SCAM Oil, Gas and Mining "Exploration" Con Companies all over the world. I have dossiers on them ALL, Every Company, Every Subsidiary, J/V Partner, Every Director, complicit accountants, auditors, brokers, lawyers & Bankers. If you want evidence for defrauded investors, I can help.
WOW! I wish I had heard of you before investing in their shares (that are now valueless!) Your knowledge of these things is simply amazing, though I note you haven't received your Knighthood yet. (I hope you pick up on my 'cruel Cockney humour' there) I might have half expected crooks though little did I think they would also be murderers, though of course I am not naive on the point of murders having discussed many in my blogs and articles. I shall certainly look up Brett Kebble (RIP) who you mention as I haven't come across him before sadly. I am in the process of doing a piece on AFREN that I am sure Malcolm will put up on Inquiring Minds when it's done, and I would greatly appreciate anything you have on it as they must have robbed people of literally hundreds of millions - of course with full attribution to you. (I'm thinking of giving it the title of 'OUT OF AFREN'!)
However, your information is so detailed and complicated, I would appreciate your forbearance and patience as I try to get my head around it. As you know two directors/managers were sacked last year and in January the board informed the Serious Fraud ('Farce' as Private Eye call them!) Office of wrongdoing in relation to 'travel expenses'! The mind boggles. This when billions have simply evaporated. However the timing of the sackings is quite interesting as it came just before a loan renewal that it stymied thus sending into a spiral down. Was this intentional I'm wondering in order to effectively go bust but keep the assets at knockdown prices?
Meanwhile Blackwater is doing very nicely with annual profits running around 20%. It is also in buy mode they say and what better time to pick up some cheap oil wells when the barrel price has reached an all time low?
If you were interested I could send a draft of the article for any suggestions additions your end and we could put it up under both our names if you wished. I will await your observations and preferences. In the meantime many congratulations on your research and discoveries that hopefully will be recognised eventually. It certainly requires a Treasury/parliamentary select committee investigation at least. Maybe you should contact Jeremy Corbyn direct - if you haven't done so already!
Regards and best wishes, Tim Veater.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Crbs_BUkwxM 27.8.15
"Very touchy and immediate." Indeed! Once the story is out, the next objective of Mossad, ably demonstrated by its smug and vaguely threatening representative in the film, must be to allow a credible explanation, to keep the true one secret. ("Nothing to see. Move on there") That's more than likely here. Zygier was abducted in late January 2010 and remained incommunicado, in solitary confinement, with effectively no judicial process, until his death in December of the same year. His arrest followed shortly after a Mossad operation to murder of Mahmoud Al Mabhouh in Dubai on the 19th January, 2010. Ziad al Homsi was arrested on May 16, 2009. Do we believe it took Mossad nine months to work out it was Zygier who was responsible for the leak? Quite ridiculous, if as is claimed, he was working for Mossad at the time. In fact a complete network of Mossad spies were revealed in Lebanon in 2010. If Zygier had been responsible he would have been picked up immediately, in fact he might even have been eliminated. The story that he was a 'big head' who went his own way, is preposterous. His bosses would have stamped on any individualism immediately. In fact Zygier had retired from the service immediately prior and lots of other things were happening including a clandestine operation with America to sabotage Iranian nuclear cyclones - the so-called 'Stuxnet' and 'Flame' viruses that happened to become public news in 2011. Given the importance Israel attaches to Iran, this would be a far more likely reason, particularly if Zygier had leaked that information. Was he in fact also working for British/Australian Intelligence also and imparted information regarding the true perpetrators of the events of 9/11 and 7/7 that are still denied to this day? Finally, sometime around the 16th August, 2010, a British member of MI6, Gareth Williams, of about the same age, came to a highly suspicious and untimely death in his London flat with rather similar disreputable stories circulated about him. It raises the question as to whether the two events could have been related in some way? If nothing else the fact that in neither case has the respective government come clean on the background or how the men were allowed to meet their end, is common to both.
Anthony
Gabber MarkersonThe
Wycombe Labour Party
July 22 ·
Written
by Gordon Bowden
https://www.facebook.com/thewycombelabourparty/posts/10153010964113388
FOR THE LEGAL RECORD regarding my accusations contained herein.
Here's a SAMPLE of how to do a full A-Z FORENSIC DISMANTLEMENT.
Information for JEREMY CLARKSON and his millions of loyal followeres
(Including me) that they might like to dwell on. SAVE, COPY, PASTE,
PRINT OFF and FORWARD ON to all your FRIENDS. On the 1/3/2015 I gave
an address on the steps of Trafalgar Square on massive £billion
International money laundering organised crime boiler rooms,
operating out of the City of London that included over 25
Interconnected FINCHLEY Rd addresses among them 788 - 790 FINCHLEY
Rd, 923 FINCHLEY Rd, 665 FINCHLEY Rd, 420 FINCHLEY Rd, WINNINGTON
HOUSE 2 WOODBERRY GROVE NORTH FINCHLEY that are directly related to
reported £billion frauds and Scams, the MAFIA. The CONSERVATIVE and
LABOUR PARTY, HSBC BANK and the BBC. Following a long walk to the BBC
HQ I was invited in by a senior executive to give detail evidence on
these Boiler Rooms and received a promise they would examine and
investigate these accusations. There has ,since then been SILENCE,
WHY? Well NOW I'M GOING TO MAKE IT PUBLIC: I have been researching
Fake "Virtual" Oil, Gas and Mining "Exploration"
Companies for 14 years, companies that float on the unregulated AIM
(Alternative Invetment Market ) L.S.E. The Australian ASX, The South
African JSE and Canadian TSX-V. Over 14 years I have built a massive
library on THOUSANDS of "Virtual" and PONZI SCAM Companies
that have, by way of their recorded Directors conspired as a
"Syndicate" to steal £billions, hundreds of £billions.
one of those Mining Companies I named in 2008 by way of articles I
published on the Internet Investor Message Boards was ANGLESEY MINING
PLC a 30 Year Cash Burn , never brought to production pile of Junk
with a 300 Mtr Flooded Shaft "The MORRIS" Shaft and
controlled by a gaggle of "JAM TOMORROW" Con Artists. On
the 19 th APRIL 2015 at 1pm-5pm I will give a power Point- Video /
Audio , forensic Document presentation at the Memorial Hall in Amlwch
Anglesey. Outlined will be the recorded history involvement of
Current and PAST Directors in Corporate Espionage asset stripping of
NON PRODUCTION Director Only Oil, Gas and Mining "Exploration"
Public Listed Companies. My research from January 1st 2006 uncovered
the following in relation to specific ANGLESEY MINING PLC Directors.
ROGER WILLIAM TURNER ID 901159418 Year of Birth 1947 who, under this
ID is recorded as having 3 Active, 10 Resigned, 5 Dissolved including
OXUS GOLD PLC (important in relation to Australian Expose ABC 4
CORNERS "BAD COMPANY" GUSTO LIMITED 04915965 with TURNER
Family Directors but launched by the Controlling Directors who front:
COMPANY DIRECTORS LIMITED and TEMPLE SECRETARIES LIMITED operated out
of the 788 790 FINCHLEY Rd Boiler Room. And PHOENIX MINING LTD
interlocked to PHOENIX MINING LIMITED 06680141. The Registered
address PAINTERS HALL 8 LITTLE TRINITY LANE, LONDON EC4V 2AN. So you
say what's this got to do with JEREMY CLARKSON and the BBC . Well I'm
an Engineer and I don't believe in repetative coincidence. PAINTERS
HALL 8 LITTLE TRINITY LANE LONDON is actually the same address
Registered for TAVISTOCK LAW LIMITED 10 - 8 Active used for OPTIMIST
FILMS LIMITED, SPARROW FILMS LIMITED, PIPPA FILMS LIMITED, PORICHOI
PRODUCTION LIMITED affiliated to NEVILLE RASCHID and NIGHTINGALE
FILMS LIMITED with ANGLESEY MINING PLC recorded Director ROBERT IAN
CUTHBERTSON. PAINTERS HALL 8 LITTLE TRINITY LANE LONDON EC4V 2AN is
also better recorded as PAYNTERS and STAINERS HALL, 8 LITTLE TRINITY
HALL and also as PAYNTERS & STAINERS LODGE (4256) MASONIC LODGE
and the SENIOR LIVERYMAN of THE WORSHIPFUL COMPANY OF PAYNTERS &
STAINERS HALL 8 LITTLE TRINITY LANE LONDON is LORD ANTHONY WILLIAM
"TONY" HALL who operates under various Director ID's (I
HAVE THEM ALL) Including 901636979 3Active 21 Resigned among them:
PARLIAMENTARY BROADCASTING UNIT LIMITED 02402768 where the list of
CORRUPT LABOUR POLITICIANS & LORDS will cause respectable voters
to Vomit and stick a "Tick" in the GREEN PARTY Box. The
registered address for PARLIAMENTARY BROADCASTING UNIT LIMITED. 1
PARK ROW LEEDS, the Organised Crime Money Laundering Boiler Room
controlled by the Complicit Directors of PINSENT MASONS LIMITED,
PINSENT SECRETARIES LIMITED. Who are they you may ask, well, the
Organised Crime Complicit support for multiple FAKE, FRAUD OIL, GAS
and MINING "Exploration" Companies and named in the
$billion Corporate ONGOING US FBI and CITY OF LONDON POLICE Total
Press lockdown TAX FRAUD and Money Laundering Case THE CARROLL
FOUNDATION TRUST involving Defrauded GERALD CARROLL, and the major
suspects, Rt Hon PM DAVID CAMERON, his late father IAN DONALD
CAMERON, Their family Company BLAIRMORE HOLDINGS PTY LTD in (PANAMA)
Directors of PANMURE GORDON, LORD NORMAN LAMONT, Many TORY LORDS,
MP'S, GRANDEES and PINSENT MASONS. FOR THE RECORD. Anyone fancy
coming to ANGLESEY on the 19th APRIL 2015 You will learn far more on
the CORRUPT SCUM Running this Country. NOW YOU ALL KNOW WHY THE BBC
HAVE NOT CONDUCTED THEMSELVES TO INVESTIGATE 788 - 790 FINCHLEY RD
LONDON NW11 and ALL the other 25 odd interconnected £billion
Organised Crime Money Laundering BOILER ROOMS. Regards GORDON BOWDEN
See also: https://veaterecosan.blogspot.com/search?q=nigeria
https://veaterecosan.blogspot.com/search?q=al+hilli
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