Ithaca Energy plc announced several changes to its top brass on Tuesday.
The alterations to the company’s board of directors and executive management team were made “to strengthen the company’s leadership as it embarks on its next phase of growth,” Ithaca outlined in a release posted on its site.
The release highlighted that the company recently announced a “proposed transformational business combination with substantially all of the upstream assets of Eni in the UK”.
The combination will, when complete, create a UK continental shelf powerhouse with the single largest resource base in the UK North Sea, creating a strategic platform for long-term growth in the basin and the pathway to becoming the largest producer in the UKCS by 2030, Ithaca noted in its latest release.
Ithaca outlined in the release that its board consulted with the company’s majority shareholder and Eni in making the team changes, which include the departure of Gilad Myerson as Executive Chairman, succeeded by Dave Blackwood. Blackwood will become interim Non-Executive Chairman, to be followed by the proposed appointment of Yaniv Friedman as Executive Chairman, the release revealed.
Changes also include the proposed appointment of Luciano Vasques as Chief Executive Officer on completion of the business combination, Iain Lewis returning to his role of Chief Financial Officer following a spell as interim Chief Executive Officer, the appointment of Odin Estensen as Chief Operating Officer, and the appointment of Zvika Zivlin as Senior Independent Director.
Myerson has more than 25 years of extensive experience building businesses and driving value creation initiatives together with private equity funds, Ithaca’s site states. He has guided the company through its acquisition-led growth strategy since 2019, culminating in the recent business combination with ENI UK, Ithaca’s release noted, adding that he has been an instrumental part of Ithaca Energy’s growth.
Blackwood joined Ithaca Energy’s board in October 2022 as Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Health, Safety, Environmental and Security committee, “after a distinguished career spanning 47 years in the global energy sector, including heading up BP’s upstream business in the UK and Norway,” the company stated in the release.
Friedman has significant global executive experience working in the energy and infrastructure sectors and brings considerable strategic, commercial, public company and M&A expertise, the company added. Vasques brings a wealth of executive and energy industry experience with a career spanning over 30 years covering a range of leadership, technical and operational roles, Ithaca said in its release. He currently holds the role of Managing Director of Eni UK Limited and led the recent acquisition and integration of Neptune Energy into Eni UK’s operations, Ithaca highlighted.
Estensen has more than 35 years’ experience in the oil and gas sector, the company outlined in the release, adding that he brings a wealth of operating experience.
“The board thanks Gilad for his strategic insight and leadership over the last four years,” Blackwood said in the release.
“The transformational business combination with Eni’s UK Business marks an appropriate time to change the executive leadership of the Company and we wish him well for the future,” he added.
“We are delighted to announce a number of high-quality board and executive management appointees, positioning the company for further success as we move into the next exciting phase of growth as the largest resource holder in the UK North Sea following the business combination with Eni’s UK Business,” he continued.
“The proposed appointment of Yaniv will further support the company’s international growth aspirations, building on his demonstrable global commercial and leadership track record in the sector. Luciano’s sector and integration experience will be critical for the company as we continue to pursue organic growth from our high-value development portfolio and successfully deliver the many growth opportunities of the business combination,” he went on to state.
“Lastly, the appointment of Odin will provide further rigor to our daily operations to ensure we continue to deliver safe and reliable operations. The board looks forward with confidence to working with Yaniv, Luciano and Odin in their respective new roles,” he said.
In his statement, Blakwood also thanked Lewis “for his stewardship of the company as interim Chief Executive Officer, which role he will continue in until Luciano officially takes office, upon which Iain will return to his role as Chief Financial Officer”.
Also in the release, Myerson said, “I am extremely proud of what Ithaca Energy has achieved during my tenure at the company”.
“The recent announcement of the business combination with Eni’s UK business, is transformational and I am pleased to have led the company through to this significant milestone,” Myerson added.
On March 27, Ithaca announced that it had entered into an exclusivity agreement in relation to a potential transformational combination with substantially all of Eni S.p.A.’s UK upstream assets, including the recently acquired Neptune Energy assets, excluding certain assets including Eni’s CCUS and Irish sea assets.
In that release, Ithaca outlined that the potential combination would “add significant scale and diversification” to its business, “create a leading UKCS portfolio”, “enable material future growth” for the company, and “create a long term strategic partnership with ENI”.
To contact the author, email andreas.exarheas@rigzone.com
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