Gabriel Radzyminski’s Sandon Capital (ASX: SNC) are self proclaimed activist investors, who aim to deliver:
“An activist investment strategy applied to undervalued companies, that few investors have the capacity to implement themselves.”
Since their inception SNC’s list of campaigns include activist actions against the boards of WTP, CYG, ILU, FWD, A2B.
I have become interested in the work of Gabriel Radzyminski, with SNC sitting in a watch list of LIC’s that I have for some years. However his work has recently come into focus for me, with his views on the Karoon Energy (KAR) board.
SNC clearly see untapped value for KAR shareholders, via dividends and increased SP, if the board only would play ball.
On the 30th April 2024, Sandon Capital and Samuel Terry Asset Management Pty Ltd, formed an “association”. Creating an alliance for the purpose of voting against several of the Karoon boards resolutions at the up coming AGM. Together they own 44,718,234 KAR shares giving the "association" 5.6% voting power
On 1 May 2024, they wrote to Karoon’s chairman, Peter Botten, detailing their voting intentions for Karoon’s 2024 Annual General Meeting to be held on 23 May 2024.
Read that letter here
They claim the board have said one thing and done another.
“We consider that the Board and Management have failed to properly adapt to Karoon’s evolution from an exploration company to a fully-fledged oil and gas producer which is now generating attractive free cashflows. Whilst we acknowledge the improvements to corporate governance that have taken place in recent years, this does not mean shareholders are safe from value-destructive “empire building”. Indeed, the recent acquisition of Who Dat, partly funded by what we view as a poorly-executed equity raising, the threat of further acquisitions and the prospect of further significant investment in the development of Neon, leads us to fear that Karoon’s Board and Management do not understand the basics of shareholder value creation.”
Money of mine you tube interview with Gabriel Radzyminski
While I have run into board shake ups and the associated argy bargy during my investing life, it strikes me that Radzyminski seems to have a hard won reputation, with runs on the board, matched with conviction and dedication. An admirable combination.
Whether SNC and Samuel Terry can pull together enough support to get the job done, will be interesting to see.
I hold KAR in RL and on Strawman
I will be looking into SNC, with a view to invest.
Keep on truckin
