Director and Senior Management Changes (7735S)

TIDMPAL

RNS Number : 7735S

Equatorial Palm Oil plc

25 November 2011

EQUATORIAL PALM OIL plc

("EPO" or the "Company")

Director and Senior Management Changes

Equatorial Palm Oil plc, (AIM: PAL), the AIM listed palm oil development company with operations in Liberia, announces changes to the Company's Board of Directors and senior management team.

Senior Management Team

The Company is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Declan Griffin as Head of Country, Liberia, with immediate effect. Mr Griffin will be based in Liberia on a full time basis and will have overall responsibility for all in-country operations including the finance and administration functions. Mr. Griffin has nearly 30 years' of global experience working in similar roles. He was most recently with Steinsky Asset Management in the Czech Republic, having previously worked for four years as the Finance and Operations Director for a manufacturing subsidiary of Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc and prior to that was with Xerox Group, primarily in Africa and the Middle East. Mr Griffin initially trained at Price Waterhouse. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants (Ireland) and has a Masters of Business Administration from Trinity College, University of Dublin.

The Company is also pleased to announce the appointment of Mr Sashi Nambiar as Head of Operations based in Liberia. Mr Nambiar has 32 years' experience in all aspects of oil palm estates. During this time, he supervised the establishment and development of a large number of estates over a combined area of more than 100,000 hectares, including managing over 20,000 hectares of new planting development at Ketapang, Indonesia. Mr Nambiar will be responsible for the management of all in-country operations and will report to Mr Griffin.

Board of Directors

Mr Peter Bayliss, the Company's Managing Director, is to resign from the Company's Board of Directors with immediate effect, in order to pursue other business interests. The Board would like to thank Mr Bayliss for his significant contribution to the Company and wishes him well for the future.

Mr Geoffrey Brown, the Company's existing Executive Plantations Director, will assume all of Mr Bayliss' director functions. Mr Brown has almost 40 years' experience in the development and management of oil palm estates around the world and has been an integral part of the Company's leadership team since its initial involvement in the Liberian project.

Michael Frayne, Executive Chairman of EPO, commented:

"As the Company and the operations in Liberiahas grown we have seen the natural requirement to restructure our management team in Liberia. The appointments of Mr Griffin and Mr Nambiar will significantly strengthen our team, both on an administrative and operational level. The experience and expertise they bring will be of enormous value, as the Company increases its production and develops its oil palm estates further.

"We are looking forward to the next stage of EPO's development, as we bring the Palm Bay mill up to full production. The recent elections in Liberia have now concluded, and we look forward to working with a government committed to continuing their country's economic development.

"Finally, I would like to thank Peter for his contribution and for the part he has played in establishing EPO as a significant player in the palm oil industry. I wish him all the best for the future."

For further information, please contact:

 
 Equatorial Palm Oil plc 
  Michael Frayne (Chairman)                   +44 (0) 20 7766 
  www.epoil.co.uk                              7555 
 Strand Hanson Limited (Nominated Adviser)    +44 (0) 20 7409 
  James Harris / Paul Cocker                   3494 
 
 
 Mirabaud Securities LLP (Broker)               +44 (0) 20 7484 
  Peter Krens                                    3510 
 Pelham Bell Pottinger (Financial/ Corporate 
  PR)                                           +44 (0) 20 7861 
  Archie Berens / Philippe Polman                3126

About Equatorial Palm Oil

Equatorial Palm Oil aims to become a global scale, sustainable, low cost producer of crude palm oil, initially redeveloping existing plantations in Liberia, the Company is now developing new additional land banks. The Group operates the only commercial palm oil mill in Liberia and is in the process of expanding operations in order to target production levels of 5 tonnes per hour. The Company has also entered into a joint venture with Biopalm Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of the Siva Group, who invests in oil palm projects around the world.

This information is provided by RNS

The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

END

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