InfraStrata Faces June 27 Showdown

UK gas storage developer InfraStrata said June 8 that a general meeting will be held June 27 in London to discuss resolutions to replace all existing directors. Its board called on shareholders to back it by voting against such resolutions.

Proxies for shareholders Adrian Richard Pocock and Peter Verdun Wale submitted the resolutions calling for the board to be replaced by the two men.

InfraStrata said May 22 it may run out of cash by August and was seeking any non-binding offers with regard to its £300mn ($382mn) as yet undeveloped 0.5bn m³ Islandmagee gas storage project in Northern Ireland, which could benefit from EU 'project of common interest' grants. The board said June 8 it had tried to engage with Pocock and Wale, and had seen no evidence they have “in depth understanding of the company, the project and gas storage in general.”

Pocock and Wale said their objectives include to “extract the hidden value from the company's assets, which is not reflected in the current share price.” Pocock said he ran a successful commercial property development company for 10 years, while Wale said he has been a partner and senior equities trader at a global hedge fund and previously been a European equities trader at Fidelity.

Mark Smedley