RE:My reasons...yeah, more boring talks from me...
holy s!...you weren't joking?...yeah, I know right...
Having worked in the O&G industry for so many years and gone through some boom and bust cycles, and with my company acquiring half a dozen companies while JV with a few others, I'll share my views of things and why Houwelings are critical.
My friends asked why. These guys are CEO's of billion dollars companies, took them there, and look at credentials of some of them, why skeptical and not invest in those companies? Nothing against them but I thought they were overvalued/overleveraged for the most part. Normal during the boom to have companies overpaid or really overpaid for assets/takeovers in bidding war, easily get caught in it and ended up badly, especially for those that had to use some form of borrowed capital. Sure, companies can raise hundreds of millions and many don't consider that borrowed, only loans are, but did they get that for free? No, they paid for it through assets sales or dilution. During the boom, easy for companies to succeed with just anyone at the helm. How good they really are is how they perform during the downturn. And of course, don't really know how good they are without knowing the people working for them. I've met some at VP or director level and I wouldn't hire them to work for me.
Nothing against AGRA's management but I needed Houwelings just to make me feel safe with my investment, as they have so much more to lose and they'll make sure that doesn't happen. During the boom, the desire to take shortcuts is at the peak. With shareholders, even employees, the management can keep them in the dark. They can evade the questions when ask. With JV partner and have stake in the company, they can't. If requesting for something or asking questions, no way to decline. If watch closely and be part of any critical decision, hard for any to try something funny or be stupid even if wanted to.
Never be greedy and rushed, build your business properly even during the boom. Yes, huge potential market but they don't realize this is not easy war to win. There's a reason bm dealers able to bring in billions annually even when illegal. And think they're just lay down and hand over their billions annually to you? Naive. While government taxes is part of the reason the legal cannabis is expensive, it's also bad decisions of companies that made them raise the price more than first expected.
Bad decisions can have serious consequences. May not apply to traders or flippers, but very important for investors to take notes of the deals and things being released. Keep a tab on the management so you can evaluate their performance. Please vote when the time comes, to let them know what you think of their performance and that you keep a tab on them, good or bad.
So far so good. Phase I done with the next two Phases on budget and on time, when a few others a year or two behind schedule and some spent all their money supposedly saved for those. That 40M locked to PSC is crucial. Decision to shelve AAA I like very much looking at the economic factor since leg. Sold their share of that Greek JV was a good idea. To build a greenhouse so can have access to Europe is really bad idea. Would leave them more than just broke, maybe even bankrupt for life. Didn't think I'd have invested for this long and not sold yet but they have convinced me to do so. I'll watch closely going forward since they have many moving pieces and could be exciting if they can execute those plans. I suspect my journey with them will not end anytime soon, unless they force me to. Nothing is absolute.