Appointment of CFO and and Intended Board Changes

RNS Number : 0641O

Savannah Energy Plc

07 June 2022

 

7 June 2022

Savannah Energy PLC

("Savannah" or "the Company")

Announcement of Group Chief Financial Officer and Intended Board Changes

Savannah Energy PLC, the British independent energy company focused around the delivery of Projects that Matter in Africa, announces the appointment of a new Group Chief Financial Officer and several Board changes that are anticipated to take effect over the coming months.

Nick Beattie, current interim Group Chief Financial Officer ("CFO") of Savannah Energy, has been confirmed as the Group's permanent CFO and has been appointed to the Board of Directors effective 6 June 2022.

Steve Jenkins has agreed with the Company's Board that he will step down from his role as Non-Executive Chairman at or prior to the 2023 Annual General Meeting ("AGM") but will continue to serve as a Non-Executive Director. The search for a Chair-Designate has commenced and it is expected that an appointment will be made during H2 2022.  Savannah would like to take this opportunity to thank Steve for his strong leadership of the Board from Savannah's initial listing to the current day, and is grateful that his experience will be retained in his continuing role as a Non-Executive Director.

David Jamison will retire from the Board, effective 30 June 2022. Savannah would like to sincerely thank David for his commitment and service to the Savannah over his eight years as a Director and is delighted to advise that David has agreed to assume the role of Honorary President of Savannah, where his considerable experience will remain available to the Group.

Savannah is also pleased to announce that it intends to appoint three new Non-Executive Directors to the Board following the completion of the Group's proposed acquisitions of the ExxonMobil upstream and midstream asset portfolios in Chad and Cameroon.  Sarah Clark, Dr Djamila Ferdjani and Sylvie Rucar have successful backgrounds in a diverse range of industries and will significantly strengthen the Board's experience and ability to maintain the highest standards of governance.

The biographies of Nick Beattie and the proposed three new Non-Executive Directors can be found below. Information required pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule Two of the AIM Rules for Companies on Nick Beattie is also set out below, while the same information for the three new Non-Executive Directors will be set out in a subsequent announcement that confirms their appointment.

Nick Beattie, Group Chief Financial Officer

Nick joined the Group in April 2019 as Group Treasurer and was appointed Interim Group CFO and Company Secretary in August 2021. During his time at Savannah, Nick has been actively involved in all finance and business development activities for the Group. Nick has an extensive background in financing energy companies, including seven years with BNP Paribas where he was a Managing Director in the Upstream Oil and Gas team in London, responsible for leading the bank relationships with UK-focused independent E&P companies. Nick is a Fellow of the Chartered Banker Institute and a Member of the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment.

Incoming Non-Executive Directors

Sarah Clark

Sarah was an elite level athlete for 18 years and is a former British, European and Commonwealth champion in the sport of judo, who competed at three Olympic Games for Great Britain. She is currently CEO of Edinburgh Judo one of the UK's largest, most successful and fastest growing judo clubs catering for 4-year-old beginners all the way through to Olympic medalists. Sarah currently serves as a Non-Executive Director of JudoScotland (the governing body for judo in Scotland).

Sarah has worked extensively in mentor, role model and leadership positions with organisations such as with the Dame Kelly Holmes Trust, the Youth Sport Trust and the Winning Scotland Foundation. In these roles her focus has been to deliver personal and group development programmes to young people from disadvantaged backgrounds and communities. She has also worked extensively with individuals and companies delivering programmes around the positive learnings businesses can take from the elite level sport world.

Dr Djamila Ferdjani

Djamila is a medical doctor, entrepreneur and social activist. She founded the then largest private medical hospital in Niger, the Pro-Santé Polyclinic, of which she was President and CEO. Djamila formerly served as a technical consultant to the Islamic Development Bank and as a Professor of Health Prevention and Promotion at the African Development University.

She is a founding Board member of Afrikajom (the leading Pan African human rights focused think tank) and is the founder and President of MEDCOM (a Niger focused medical and educational NGO). She is a former a member of the executive committee of the Orange Niger Foundation. She regularly speaks at African focused Human Rights events, including those organised by the World Bank, OXFAM, Plan International, the G5 Sahel, OSIWA, NDI and TEDX. Djamila has been named by the United Nations Population Fund as one of the 100 women leaders in Niger and by Facebook as one of 19 African LeadHERs breaking boundaries in the fields of media, entertainment, education and business.

Sylvie Rucar

Sylvie is a former CFO of PSA Group (the CAC 40 automotive company now known as Stellantis), Deputy CFO of Societe Generale (the CAC 40 bank) and senior advisor to leading global professional services firm, Alix Partners. She is presently a Non-Executive Director of Alstom (the CAC 40 railway and services equipment company), CFAO (the €5.8bn revenue African-focused automotive and pharma retail company) and Avril Gestion (the €6.2bn revenue private vegetable oil and protein company). Sylvie also serves as Treasurer of Les Amis De Bassiata et des Enfants du Niger (a Niger focused education charity).

Sylvie is a seasoned professional in finance, with a large expertise across multinational businesses both in an executive management and a non-executive capacity as board member and audit committee chairwoman.

Additional Information

The following additional information is provided in accordance with paragraph (g) of Schedule Two of the AIM Rules for Companies.

Nicholas ("Nick") Beattie (age 48)

Current Directorships/Partnerships

Past Directorships/Partnerships (last 5 years)

Savannah Energy UK Limited Savannah Energy Chad Limited Savannah Energy International Limited Savannah Energy 1 Limited Savannah Energy 2 Limited Savannah Energy (Uquo) Jersey Limited Stubb Creek Holdco Limited Savannah Energy (Stubb Creek) Limited Savannah Energy Nigeria Limited Savannah Energy Nigeria Midstream Limited Savannah Energy (Uquo) Limited Exoro Holding BV Accugas UK Limited Savannah Energy (BVI) Limited Accugas Holdings UK PLC Accugas Funding 1 SPV PLC Savannah Energy RC Limited Savannah Energy Chad Procurement Limited Savannah Energy RN Limited Savannah Energy E&P Limited

Star Phoenix Group UK Ltd Range Resources (Barbados) Limited SOCA Petroleum Limited Range Resources Drilling Services Limited West Indies Exploration Company Limited Range Resources Trinidad Limited Range Resources West Coast Limited Range Resources (Barbados) GY Limited Range Resources GY Shallow Limited Range Resources GY Deep Limited Range Resources HK Limited

Other than the information contained within this announcement, there is no further information required to be disclosed pursuant to paragraph (g) of Schedule Two of the AIM Rules for Companies.

For further information, please refer to the Company's website www.savannah-energy.com or contact:

Savannah Energy	[phone]
Andrew Knott, CEO
Nick Beattie, CFO
Sally Marshak, Head of IR & Communications
Strand Hanson (Nominated Adviser)	[phone]
James Spinney
Ritchie Balmer
Rob Patrick
finnCap Ltd (Joint Broker)  Christopher Raggett Tim Redfern	[phone]
Panmure Gordon (UK) Ltd (Joint Broker)  John Prior Hugo Rich James Sinclair-Ford	[phone]
Camarco	[phone]
Billy Clegg Owen Roberts Violet Wilson

The information contained within this announcement is considered to be inside information prior to its release, as defined in Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation No. 596/2014, and is disclosed in accordance with the Company's obligations under Article 17 of those Regulations.

About Savannah Energy:

Savannah Energy PLC is an AIM quoted British independent energy company focused around the delivery of Projects that Matter in Africa and is active in Cameroon, Chad, Niger and Nigeria.

Further information on Savannah Energy PLC can be found on the Company's website: www.savannah-energy.com .

 

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