Appointment of New Non-Executive Chairman

RNS Number : 0528D

Active Energy Group PLC

26 January 2015

 



26 January 2015

Active Energy Group Plc
("Active Energy Group" or the "Group" or the "Company" or "AEG")

Appointment of New Non-Executive Chairman

Active Energy Group Plc (AIM: AEG.L), the London Stock Exchange AIM-listed international supplier of industrial wood chip and timber, Biomass for Energy (BFE) fuel products, and forestry asset development services, is pleased to announce the appointment of Frank Lewis FCA as Non-Executive Chairman of the Group with immediate effect.

Frank has a wealth of public company experience, having served as Non-Executive Chairman and Director for a number of international publicly-quoted firms with interests across Europe, the Far East, Middle East and Africa, which has given him a sound understanding of different business cultures and working practices, as well as considerable expertise in the industrial, technology and natural resources business sectors.

In addition to his non-executive roles, Frank had 25 years of listed and private company boardroom-level experience, including as Finance Director, CEO and Chairman, during which time he was involved in numerous areas of business, including strategic planning, growth management, IPOs, corporate governance and regulatory compliance.

His current non-executive directorships comprise China Africa Resources Plc, Asia Ceramics Holdings Plc, Durham Infrastructure 5 Limited and Community Solar UK Limited.  He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales and serves as a committee member for its special interest group for Non-Executive Directors, and was previously a member of the AIM Advisory Council, which advises the London Stock Exchange on matters relating to the AIM market.

Richard Spinks, CEO of Active Energy Group Plc, commented: "My co-Directors and I welcome Frank to the Board as Non-Executive Chairman at this exciting stage in the Group's development, and we look forward to drawing on his expertise in corporate governance and regulatory compliance as we continue to expand our existing international operations and implement some of the new business ventures that we have been developing over the past two years."

Regulatory Information:

Frank Lewis (aged 69) currently holds or has held the following directorships and partnerships in the last five years:

Current Directorships/LLP memberships:	Past Directorships/LLP memberships:
China Africa Resources Plc	Umbriel Solar 07 Limited
Asia Ceramics Holdings Plc	Zeo Medical Plc
Durham Infrastructure 5 Limited	WGL Realisations 2010 Limited (formerly Welconstruct Group Limited)
Community Solar UK Limited

Frank Lewis has been a Non-Executive Director to the following companies that have been placed into liquidation or receivership/administration:

The Industry Limited	Placed in administrative receivership on 4 December 2003; deficit to unsecured creditors of £1.14 million.  Mr Lewis was a Non-Executive Director for less than eight months, representing a private equity firm.
Telephone Maintenance Group Plc	Placed in administrative receivership on 26 September 2007; deficit to unsecured creditors of £1.65 million.  Mr Lewis resigned as Non-Executive Director on 25 January 2007 after serving only three and half months.

WGL Realisations 2010 Limited (formerly Welconstruct Group Limited)

Placed in administrative receivership on 10 September 2009, when Mr Lewis resigned as Non-Executive Director.  On 27 August 2010 the administrators sought a Court Order to enable a distribution in the administration and move the company into a Creditors Voluntary Liquidation.  The administrators achieved realisations in excess of the amounts due to secured and preferential creditors.  An interim dividend of 7p in the £ has been paid to unsecured creditors.  A second and final dividend will be paid once all asset realisations have been completed.

No further disclosure is required under Paragraph (g) to Schedule Two of the AIM Rules for Companies.

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Contact Information & Editor's Notes

Enquiries:

Active Energy Group Plc
Richard Spinks, Chief Executive Officer                        [phone]           [e-mail]

Brian Evans-Jones, Finance Director                            [phone]      [e-mail]

6 Hillgrove Public Relations                                         
Richard Hillgrove/John Price                                          [phone]      [e-mail]
                                                                                                                                           [e-mail]

WH Ireland Ltd. (Nominated Adviser and Broker)                                           
Chris Fielding/Mark Leonard                                          [phone]

Active Energy Group:

·   Company Website: www.active-energy.com

·   Active Energy Group Plc, a London Stock Exchange AIM-listed company (AIM: AEG.L), is an international supplier of industrial wood chip and timber for MDF and OSB panel board manufacturing; Biomass for Energy (BFE) fuel products, including development of second generation fuel pellets and pelleting technologies; and global forestry asset development and management services.

·   The Group, headquartered in the United Kingdom, currently operates from four international locations:

o Ukraine, where it is the largest producer and exporter of wood chip for MDF manufacturing.

o Spain and Montenegro, from where it supplies BFE wood chip to European power plants.

o Canada, where it has entered into a landmark forestry joint venture - KAQUO Forestry & Natural Resources Development Corporation - with several indigenous Métis Settlements to commercialise in excess of 250,000 hectares of forestry/timberland assets.

·   The Group is led by a highly experienced and dedicated management team with a proven track record in the industries and regions in which it operates and from which its revenues are generated.

·   Ukraine and Canada, with their large forestry reserves and comprehensive road, rail and sea transport links, are ideal locations from which to source raw timber and manufacture wood chip and fuel pellets for supply to Biomass power plants and MDF/OSB producers.

Turkish MDF Market:

·   Turkey is the leading manufacturer of MDF in Europe, producing over 6 million m3 of high-quality boards and finished products per annum.  AEG maintains close relationships with all the major Turkish MDF producers, and works with them to develop its production capacity and product range.

·   Until recently, approximately 69% of US, Canadian and Latin American industrial wood chip exports were destined for Turkey; all of it for production of wood-based panels, primarily MDF.

·   AEG has successfully developed the first viable alternative to these traditional supply sources; delivering high-quality wood chip in approximately one-tenth of the transatlantic shipping time.

·   As well as providing fresher and superior wood chip to its clients, AEG's Black Sea production and shipping facilities provide them with significant cost-savings and cash flow advantages.

European Biomass for Energy (BFE) Market:

·   Biomass-generated power is expected to account for over 50% of European renewable energy, according to an EU directive on National Renewable Energy Action Plans.

·   EU directives and continued commissioning of new Biomass and CHP power plants across Europe continue to generate additional demand for Biomass fuel.

·   The European Renewable Energy Council (EREC) estimates that Biomass-based energy production will grow from 43TWh (Terawatt Hours) in 2005 to 250TWh in 2020.

 

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