Potential Lawsuit Personally, I think it is quite evident that Cyrus and management are trying to fleece retail investors.. they have waited for the opportune time to do so ahead of any substantial ramp up in LNG activity in PNG.
They state their reasons for separating the PNG business is because of no material synergies running 2 separate business on 2 opposite sides of the world under one corporate entity. If that is truly the case (there is some merit to that), why must PNG be spun off into a PRIVATE COMPANY where corporate governance would be greatly diminished (not that we have great governance in the first place... why do you think Lance the CFO sold his remaining shares ahead of all these 'corporate reorg' shenanigans. Maybe he fears a future lawsuit and wants to distance himself from being culpable).
The reality is that if PNG is going to be separated and spun off, it should be done through a publicly traded corporate entity. They could very easily list the PNG entity on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). In the 6 months YTD PNG business makes up 95% of revenues... what justifies 5% of the business as remaining publicly traded on the TSX?!?!
Cyrus and Management know that institutional investors want nothing to do with private company shares (High Arctic has 0.3% institutional ownership versus peers like Essential Energy Services with 14.4% institutional ownership - similar market caps). Cyrus is planning to squeeze out all the retail shareholders that don't want anything to do with Private Company stock.
Wondering if anyone has heard of any Case Law or rulings for similarly structured 'reorgs'? I'm sure Cyrus has employed a legal team that's spending a great deal of time and effort to limit liability, but as the reorg is currently proposed it certainly seems like there is potential for a lawsuit.