RE: RE: RE: one other suggestion on motives..... You are likely right that they are teamed up with a coalition as the signature at the bottom of their press release is something to the effect "concerned shareholders of Ithaca Energy"
Folks, if Ithaca should be put up for sale because of a stagnant share price then there are dozens and dozens of quality junior and intermediate peers that should be put up as well.
What the heck is so bloody different about Ithaca. Gran Tierra ( a very high quality company) has more than tripled their production and their reserves since 2008. The stock was over $8 at one point in 08 and peaked in early 2011 at nearly $10 and here it sits with numerous discoveries and just increased their 2P reserves by 17% and just made another discovery in a field in peru with 88 mmbbls of 3C resource. and guess what,....their share price is ~$5.78. I guess they shoud put them selves up for sale. I have an idea...... why don't all of the E&Ps in Canada and South America do so as they are nearly all in the same position as Ithaca.
I said that to say this. The North Sea has claimed Oilexco, Sterling (Excel way way off their high and INA is a risky bet to say the least) and Valiant is evidently throwing in the towel if they can find someone to buy them (no takers to my knowledge yet....stand to be corrected). The North Sea is not Kenya, North Dakota, Eagle Ford or Nigeria. Remember Ithaca's $30 million duster? Exploring in the North Sea is reserved for the seniors with very deep pockets or a junior with a horse shoe up their ar se. The production growth is very very lumpy as opposed to incremental on land. What would these board members have done if they bought Petro Minerales, Niko, etc, etc on the hype and held in the belief that surely eventually the stock price will come back.
Folks I am sorry but for some reason Ithaca is held up to a different standard than many many of its peers. If the focus is currently in hot areas like Kenya, Nigeria, US Bakken , these companies are going to feel the love. Where were all the activist funds when Mart (which I own shares of) was languishiing for 15 or more years.
I hope the company does sell for $3.50 to $4.00 so it can be put out of its misery. If this company had received bonafied offers to purchase last year the management would have been obliged to annouce the offer. Evidently they were tire kickers and the Ithaca BOD did not feel that they were serious enough to pursue. The key was that there was a leak that there was a tire kicker and the bloody foolishness began. if this leak had not occured then the tire kickers would have done their thing and if they were not prepared to make a bonafied offer they would have vanished the market would have been non the wiser and Ithaca would have not inherited a stigma.
JMO so don't shoot me above the waist.