The shares of Gulf Keystone Petroleum (LSE: GKP) slipped 7p to 169p during early trade this morning after the oil explorer gave its verdict on four non-executive candidates nominated by M&G.
The AIM-traded favourite, which has discovered up to 15 billion barrels of oil in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, recommended shareholders to vote against the nominations at the group’s AGM on 25 July.
Gulf Keystone said the investment house’s candidates did not offer “a consistent track record of successful operational and commercial experience in any sector” and did not possess “the knowledge base… of oil and gas expertise, experience and achievement“.
The oil group also claimed one of M&G’s candidates, Jeremy Asher, had been “highly disruptive” during an earlier stint on the board, adding “many members of the GKP team… have expressed a strong preference not to work with him again“.
M&G, whose £7.4bn Recovery Fund owns 5.1% of Gulf Keystone, said at the weekend that its candidates had “the relevant experience and knowledge to represent the interests of all shareholders“.
The investment house claimed last week that its nominees would review Gulf Keystone’s director remuneration, which it considered to be “excessive“.
Gulf Keystone revealed today that it was confident of attracting alternative “high-calibre” non-executive directors, with three “outstanding” candidates interviewed last week.
Despite today’s share-price slip, Gulf Keystone’s market cap has soared from £122m to £1.4bn following the group’s 2004 flotation.
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> Maynard does not own any share mentioned in this article.
