Today, Abraxas Petroleum announced two important developments regarding its Board of Directors. The company announced the nomination of Jerry J. Langdon as well as its intention to name Katherine T. Richard to fill an expected Board vacancy. Mr. Langdon will stand for election at the company’s 2013 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, while Ms. Richard will fill the vacancy created by C. Scott Bartlett, Jr.’s retirement. With the addition of Mr. Langdon, Abraxas’ Board will grow by one member, from nine to ten. Nine of the directors will be independent.
Abraxas’ Chairman, President, and CEO, Bob Watson, remarked, “We are pleased that Jerry has accepted our invitation to join our Board as a new independent director. His extensive experience in the energy industry will prove invaluable as he works with our other directors to create value for all Abraxas stockholders. We would also like to thank Scott Bartlett for his 13 years of exceptional service to Abraxas and wish him well on his future endeavors.”
Mr. Watson added, “We are also excited about the addition of Kate Richard to our Board. Kate has invested across the capital structures of public and private oil and gas companies and throughout the energy value chain. Kate will add a breadth of experience and a new perspective to our Board.”
Jerry J. Langdon, currently a private investor, was most recently the Chief Administrative and Compliance Officer of Energy Transfer Partners, a multi-billion dollar company specializing in the gathering, processing, transportation, and storage of natural gas and natural gas liquids in the U.S. Prior to that, Mr. Langdon was Chief Administrative and Compliance Officer for Reliant Energy. Mr. Langdon has also held senior executive positions with El Paso Energy Partners and has served as a Director of several public and private boards. In October 1988, President Ronald Regan appointed Mr. Langdon to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, of which he remained part until 1993. Mr. Langdon has been published in various industry trade magazines and holds a Bachelor of Science Communications from the University of Texas.
Katherine Taaffe Richard founded and is currently the CEO of Warwick Energy Group, an oil and gas company focused on conventional and unconventional development and exploration in the United States, Europe, and the Middle East. Ms. Richard has been employed by or consulted to MSDC Management, L.P. or MSD Capital, L.P., since 2009, where she focuses on international energy investments. In the past, she was employed at Serengeti Asset Management and Goldman, Sachs & Co. Ms. Richards is also a Natural Resources Advisor to the Institute for Effective States and an Advisory Council member of Microvest Capital Funds, a private microfinance investment firm. Ms. Richard was selected to represent the United States as one of the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders for the 2013-14 year at the World Economic Forum’s 2013 Davos session. She holds an undergraduate degree in History from Harvard College.
Abraxas also announced that the Clinton Group is withdrawing its slate of nominees for election to Abraxas’ Board. Instead, it has agreed to vote its shares in support of all of Abraxas’ director nominees in 2013 and to abide by certain standstill provisions.
“We expect that Mr. Langdon and Ms. Richard will be exceptional directors for Abraxas,” said George Hall, Chief Executive Officer of Clinton Group. “We are enthusiastic shareholders and believe the Company is significantly undervalued. We hope the addition of these new directors will help the Company realize its full potential for the benefit of all shareholders.”
For more information, visit www.abraxaspetroleum.com
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