NEW YORK, July 22, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Lone Star
Value Investors, LP ("Lone Star Value"), owner of more than 18
million shares representing 7.1% of Antares Energy Limited
("Antares") (ASX: AZZ) (AZZEF), today issued the following
statement in response to the apparent vote to retain the current
directors on the Board of Directors of Antares at 22 July General
Meeting of shareholders.
Jeff Eberwein of Lone Star Value
said, "In order to defeat Lone Star Value's campaign for change and
retain their positions on the Board, CEO Cruickshank and his fellow
directors have made important public promises to the shareholders
of Antares. Antares claims it has multiple offers, both for
all its assets and all its stock. We call on Antares to
immediately reveal more details about these offers and, assuming
they are legitimate, immediately run an auction process to sell to
the highest bidder. If the highest bid is for the assets of the
Company rather than its stock, we call on Antares to return ALL the
cash from asset sales to Antares shareholders. If Antares'
incumbent Board refuses to do so, then the Board, at a minimum,
should put the matter to a shareholder vote and allow shareholders,
not management, to decide if all the cash should be distributed to
shareholders or retained by management. We also believe
shareholders should be allowed to vote to approve any management
bonuses received as a result of selling the assets or stock of the
Company."
"Antares' Board and management have a long track record of
missing targets and breaking promises. We, and all
non-conflicted Antares shareholders, will hold them accountable
going forward. Notably, even with their vague details of
offers from bidders and vows to pursue value-maximising asset sales
and a number of defensive maneuvers and two trading halts, we
estimate shareholders came ONE shareholder vote away from electing
Lone Star Value's nominees and removing the two employee
directors. This ONE shareholder appears to be Schroders PLC
("Schroders") (LSE: SDR) who claims to be a thought leader in
Corporate Governance and says it holds its portfolio companies to
the highest standards. It is extremely perplexing that
Schroders would vote against its own Corporate Governance standards
and against the recommendations of both leading proxy advisory
firms, ISS and CGI-Glass Lewis, in supporting an employee-dominated
Board, the very epitome of conflict of interest and poor
governance. The fact remains that hundreds of Antares
shareholders showed their frustration with the lack of independence
and accountability of the Board, its ineffectiveness at delivering
results for shareholders, and an overall mentality that places
management's interests above shareholders'. The level of
support for Lone Star Value's nominees and our evaluation that the
vote was ONE shareholder away from major change to Antares' Board
should serve as a wake-up call to the incumbents – the clock is
ticking for delivering immediate value to Antares'
shareholders."
"Antares' Board must provide an immediate market update on the
true status of the takeover offer and asset sales they have
announced; and we, like our fellow shareholders, will closely
monitor both the Board's disclosures and their actions as they
navigate through any sales process. We assume ASIC will also
closely examine past and current Board actions given the
questionable trading activities of some Board members including the
CEO. Lone Star Value remains a committed shareholder of
Antares and we will not hesitate to take any actions necessary to
ensure that the best interests of all shareholders are properly
served."
"We want to thank our fellow shareholders for their support and
contribution to this long overdue and healthy debate about the
future of our Company and we encourage them to keep up the pressure
on Antares' Board and management to improve transparency and
accountability."
Media enquiries please contact:
John Hurst – Cannings Corporate
Communications
+61 418 708 663
Lone Star Value Management
+1-203-489-9500
SOURCE Lone Star Value Investors, LP