11-08-2016, 07:48 AM
Ollie says on Facebook
So, what does IOC's latest press release tell us between the lines?
1) They state that XOM are still fully supporting the deal. Translation: XOM still need the gas, and after their recent inventory write down they need it more than they did when the vote was held.
2) They state that IOC still fully supports the current deal. Translation: IOC's BOD and executive management still want their payday, and they want it sooner rather than later. The incentivization issue that encouraged them to accept the pitiful deal is still in place and they still have complete disdain for the shareholders.
3) The appeal Court lambasted the IOC BOD and Management regarding their failed governance, and their willingness to "sell at any price", along with their collusion with the "independent fairness opinion assessor", Morgan Stanley, by making the payment of the assessor contingent on the completion of the sale. This was in effect converting the protection of the shareholders interest into a smoke-screen to hide the actual state of affairs from the shareholders in order to get their support for the deal.
What does this all mean?
It means that there is a prima facie case that the IOC BOD and Executive management conspired with Morgan Stanley to defraud the shareholders, for their own gain.
What does the Market think about this?
Well, on Friday when the news hit that IOC had lost the appeal, the value that reflected the CRP, vanished from the IOC share price and the market closed at $45.90, however by Monday afternoon, the price had risen to $47.36 which suggests that for the most part the market thinks that the deal in its current form, deserves to be dead.
With all of this going on in IOC's bedroom, what does it say for XOM?
It tells us that XOM was doing the right thing by their shareholders, trying to get the gas for the best possible price they could.
What a shameful thing that contrary to the good governance of XOM, the IOC BOD and Management are so transparently sacrificing the best financial outcome of the IOC shareholders on the altar of their personal greed.