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Who Will Replace McClendon at Chesapeake?

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By Arjun Sreekumar, The Motley Fool

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Chesapeake Energy‘s Aubrey McClendon is no longer the company’s CEO. He left on April 1 and it was no April Fools‘ joke.

Now the inevitable question: Who will replace the man who founded and led Chesapeake through both the good times and bad?

Chesapeake’s temporary chief
In a statement released on Friday, Chesapeake said that Steve Dixon, the company’s chief operating officer, will serve as acting CEO until a permanent replacement is selected.

Dixon, who joined Chesapeake back in 1991, has held various senior positions at the company. His tenure culminated with his appointment as executive vice president and chief operating officer – positions he has served since 2006.  

Chesapeake’s board has also established a three-man “office of the chairman,” which includes Dixon, as well as Archie Dunham, who currently serves as non-executive chairman of the board, and Domenic Dell’Osso, the company’s chief financial officer. 

The members of this three-person team have been intimately involved in planning the CEO transition process, as highlighted in Chesapeake’s succession plan. They are “working closely to transition oversight of strategic, operational, and financial matters as well as certain day-to-day management responsibilities” from McClendon to whoever replaces him.  

Could shares pop with announcement of new CEO?
The appointment of a new CEO is a huge deal for Chesapeake. One of the major reasons the company’s shares were so depressed last year was because of investors’ mistrust of McClendon – a stigma traders affectionately termed the “Aubrey discount.”

Since the company announced in late January that McClendon would be departing as CEO, shares are up a little over 7%. The next catalyst to drive them higher will almost certainly be the appointment of a capable and experienced CEO whose management style should be – ironically – a world apart from McClendon’s, at least when it comes to taking risks.

Though McClendon helped Chesapeake accumulate several choice oil and gas properties, he also oversaw the company’s detour into an abyss of debt – liabilities that threaten its future even to this day. If the new CEO is one with a proven track record of fiscal discipline – and can convince the markets that he or she will help turn the company’s worrying debt situation around – then shares are likely to pop.

If, on the other hand, the new CEO turns out to be a close pal of McClendon’s, or leads investors to believe that nothing fundamental has changed about Chesapeake’s management style, then shares are likely to decline.

In my view, it would probably be better for the company to appoint someone as far removed from McClendon’s personal life as possible, especially considering the outrage his close friend and Chesapeake co-founder Tom Ward has aroused over his management practices at SandRidge Energy.

Final thoughts
Chesapeake had reportedly been in talks with one promising candidate but those apparently fizzled out. As it stands, the company hasn’t singled out any particular individual as a frontrunner …read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

Help Wanted: New CEO for SandRidge Energy

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By 24/7 Wall St.

Drilling rig

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Late yesterday afternoon, the board of directors of SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) essentially caved in to demands from TPG-Axon Group and agreed to add four new directors named by the hedge fund to the SandRidge board effective immediately. The company’s current CEO, Tom Ward, will be retained until June 30, at which time he will either be fired or another TPG-Axon director will be appointed to the board, giving the hedge fund control of the board. It probably goes without saying that Ward will not stay on.

TPG-Axon and Mount Kellett Capital Management launched their attack on SandRidge last November, charging that the company had allowed Ward to participate in land acquisitions and sales through other companies that he either controlled or had an interest in. The SandRidge board said it had investigated the allegations many times in the company’s past and found no wrongdoing.

That is what the board of Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) said about the well participation program that it allowed CEO Aubrey McClendon to take advantage of. That did not work out too well for McClendon, who officially steps down on April Fool’s Day. Board support was not enough for Ward either.

In exchange for Ward’s ouster and the four board seats, TPG-Axon has agreed to terminate its consent solicitation and withdraw its notice of intent to nominate a slate of candidates at SandRidge’s next annual shareholders meeting.

SandRidge shares spiked in the late afternoon yesterday, but closed the day within pennies of where they started. The shares are down about 0.2% in the premarket this morning at $5.84 in a 52-week range of $4.81 to $8.57.

Filed under: 24/7 Wall St. Wire, Commodities, Corporate Governance, Management Change, Oil & Gas, Shareholder Issues Tagged: CHK, SD

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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance

Business, Finance, Occupation & Industry

TPG-Axon Urges SandRidge Energy Stockholders to Vote before the Deadline to Replace SandRidge's Enti

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By Business Wirevia The Motley Fool

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TPG-Axon Urges SandRidge Energy Stockholders to Vote before the Deadline to Replace SandRidge’s Entire Board of Directors

– Comments on SandRidge Board’s Belated Approval of Its Slate of Independent Director Nominees –

NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)– TPG-Axon, beneficial owner of 7.3 percent of the outstanding shares of SandRidge Energy, Inc. (NYS: SD) (the “Company”), today urged SandRidge Energy Stockholders to act immediately and return the GREEN consent card in favor of its proposals and director slate in order to meet the March 15, 2013 deadline for submitting the consent.

In addition, TPG-Axon noted that the Company filed an 8K this morning, March, 12, 2013, announcing that the Board has, at long last, approved the independent slate of director nominees.

TPG-Axon stated, “It is frankly embarrassing and unfortunate that it took the Board two months, a lawsuit and a stern ruling by Judge Strine that they may have breached their fiduciary duty, to finally do the right thing for shareholders. This is yet another poor use of shareholder money, a stark example of how the Board has attempted to entrench themselves, and a reason why immediate change is necessary.”

TPG-Axon continued, “The time for change is now. Shareholders should vote their GREEN consent cards immediately before it is too late, and send a message to the Board that they have a duty of loyalty to shareholders.”

TPG-Axon also notes that Tom Ward and the current Board of Directors have failed to adequately address the ongoing strategic and operational deficiencies as well as the serious governance and related party transaction issues that have plagued the Company under their tenure. Furthermore, TPG-Axon cautions stockholders to consider the consequences of the current Board’s plan to spend an amount equal to almost 80 percent of the Company’s entire remaining market capitalization on compensation, overhead, financing costs, and capital expenditures over the next year.

TPG-Axon reiterates its belief that SandRidge is at a critical point and encourages stockholders to come together and vote the GREEN consent card today in favor of its experienced independent director slated to put an end to an era of value destruction at the Company.

For information on TPG-Axon’s proposals and on the process for voting shares in favor of those proposals, go to www.shareholdersforsandridge.com or contact MacKenzie Partners, Inc. at (212) 929-5500.

About TPG-Axon Capital
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Source: FULL ARTICLE at DailyFinance