First Calgary Petroleums and Waterford Announce Settlement of the Proxy
Contest, Proposed New Board of Directors and New President and Chief Executive
Officer

    CALGARY, April 14 /CNW/ - First Calgary Petroleums Ltd. (FCP) and
Waterford Finance & Investment Limited today announced that they have settled
the proxy contest between them relating to the FCP annual and special meeting
to be held on April 18, 2008 and have agreed on a new board of directors which
will include nominees of both Waterford and FCP. FCP also announces that Mr.
Shane O'Leary will replace Mr. Richard Anderson as the President and Chief
Executive Officer of FCP.
    The new board of directors will be implemented through the election of
Waterford's slate of nominees by FCP shareholders at the annual and special
meeting, following which two of such directors will resign and the remaining
board will approve the appointment of Messrs. Garfield Emerson and Shane
O'Leary as their replacements. Going forward, the board of directors of FCP
will consist of Messrs. Alastair Beardsall, Raymond Cej, Garfield Emerson,
Menno Grouvel, Keith Henry, Matthew Lechtzier, Shane O'Leary, Frank Proto and
Yuri Shafranik, with Mr. Garfield Emerson as chair of the board.
    Mr. Richard Anderson has resigned as a director and as the President and
Chief Executive Officer of FCP effective immediately, and Mr. Shane O'Leary,
former Chief Operating Officer of FCP has been appointed President and Chief
Executive Officer to replace Mr. Anderson. Mr. Anderson has agreed to remain
as a consultant to FCP for approximately six months, and will be available to
FCP during that period to assist in the executive transition.
    Mr. O'Leary (P-Eng) has 30 years of experience in the oil and gas
industry working internationally and in North America. Before joining FCP in
2006, he held the position of VP and Business Unit Leader Brazil for EnCana
and prior to that held senior positions with BP Amoco working on projects in
the Caspian, Middle East, Africa, Trinidad and Alaska. Mr. O'Leary stated that
"We are eager to maintain and enhance the solid relationships that have been
developed with Sonatrach, and the Algerian Ministry of Energy and Mines and
other partners of FCP. The board and I are committed to generating value for
FCP shareholders and in that respect we will be moving the Algerian
development project forward expeditiously and reviewing all options to
maximize value."
    Mr. Garfield Emerson, the current chairman of the board of FCP, stated
that "We are pleased to have resolved the issues arising from the proxy
contest in a manner that FCP believes is in the best interest of all
shareholders. The new board provides continuity, as five of its members are
past directors of FCP, as well as adding directors with extensive
international and domestic energy experience. We are pleased that Mr. Anderson
agreed to step aside as Chief Executive Officer in order to facilitate this
compromise with Waterford, in the interests of all shareholders. We are also
pleased that Mr. Anderson has agreed to take on a consulting position with
FCP, so that the company will continue to have access to his knowledge and
relationships."
    Michael Kroupeev, director of Waterford, stated that "Waterford is
pleased to reach an agreement with FCP with respect to the new board and new
President and Chief Executive Officer. Waterford believes that the new board
strikes the right balance of continuity, experience and expertise to provide
support and guidance to the FCP management team, under the strategic
leadership of Mr. O'Leary, to expeditiously move the company forward in its
development of the Algerian project. While the events leading up to this point
have been challenging, Waterford believes FCP will emerge stronger as a
result."
    FCP and Waterford request that FCP shareholders revoke any blue
management proxies given and vote the YELLOW proxy by faxing the YELLOW proxy
to Kingsdale Shareholder Services no later than 5:00 p.m. (Calgary time) on
Tuesday, April 15, 2008. Detailed instructions are included in the dissident
proxy circular that was distributed to all FCP shareholders. Further
information about voting the YELLOW proxy is available from Kingsdale
Shareholder Services at 1-866-851-2638.
    The board of directors of First Calgary continues to recommend that
shareholders vote against the Second Shareholder Proposal when they vote the
YELLOW proxy.

    Company Profile

    First Calgary is an oil and gas company actively engaged in international
exploration and development activities in Algeria. The Company's common shares
trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange in Canada (FCP) and on AIM market of the
London Stock Exchange in the United Kingdom (FPL).

    About Waterford

    Waterford is a private investment holding company which invests, with a
long-term view, in international natural resource projects, including oil and
gas, exploration, development and production companies.

    Forward-looking Statements

    This press release includes forward-looking information with respect to
FCP. Forward-looking statements often, but not always, are identified by the
use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate",
"targeting" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will",
"should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar
expressions. These statements speak only to the conditions in existence as of
April 14, 2008, and FCP maintains no obligation to update such statements
except as required by applicable securities laws. Such statements involve
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those contemplated by the statements, and include risks associated with
operations. As a consequence, actual results might differ materially from
results forecast or suggested in these forward-looking information. Some of
these risks and uncertainties are identified in our publicly filed documents
available at www.sedar.com and/or on our website at www.fcpl.ca. Additional
information regarding these factors and other important factors that could
cause results to differ materially may be referred to as part of particular
forward-looking information. The forward-looking information are qualified in
their entirety by reference to our publicly filed documents.


For further information: FCP Contact Information: First Calgary Petroleums
Ltd., Jeffrey P. Angel, Vice-President, Corporate Communications & Investor
Relations, Tel: (403) 264-6697; Other Contacts: James Henderson, Pelham Public
Relations, Tel: +44 (0)20 7743 6673; Carina Corbett, 4C - Burvale Limited,
Tel: +44 (0)20 7559 6710; Nominated Advisors: Richard Swindells, David
Nabarro, Nabarro Wells & Co. Limited, Tel: +44(0)20 7710 7400; Waterford
Contact Information: Investors: Kingsdale Shareholder Services, Tel:
1-866-851-2638; Media: John Lute, Lute & Company, Tel: (416) 929-5883
(FPL)

 



END
First Calgary Petroleums (LSE:FPL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2024 to Aug 2024 Click Here for more First Calgary Petroleums Charts.
First Calgary Petroleums (LSE:FPL)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2023 to Aug 2024 Click Here for more First Calgary Petroleums Charts.