Equatorial Palm Oil's objective is to become a major producer of sustainable, low cost crude palm oil to service the market for edible oil as demand is projected to continue to grow 4-6% per annum over the next five years. Initially EPO will reactivate 3,000 hectares of existing plantation which will provide early cash flow and demonstrate the potential for the business.
24/05/12
Posting of Accounts and Notice of AGM10/05/12
Results for the year ended 31 December 201130/04/12
Price Monitoring Extension12/04/12
Repayment of Term Loan12/04/12
Repayment of Term Loan - Replacement
21/09/11
Palm oil is an important constituent of food products and demand for it is increasing - not only in developing economies like China and India - but also in established markets like the US, where it is being seen as a suitable substitute for soya bean oil. Here, we profile a firm hoping to play a part in satisfying this demand: AIM-quoted Equatorial Palm Oil.
06/09/10
The Siva Group, who is already the company's largest shareholder, will invest US$22.5m into the joint venture, and provide a US$30m loan. The deal is expected to 'fast-track' the development of palm oil plantations in Liberia.
04/08/10
The mill for its Libarian rump operations has been delivered on schedule and should be up and running in the final quarter of the year. The company is currently in the process of reactivating 3,000 hectares of palms and will plant up to a further 1,200 hectares next year.
28/07/10
The country is slowly emerging from a troubled past, and it is early days for the economic recovery. However, the company believes there's no better time than now to get started with re-establishing oil palm plantations on its land parcels. It plans to be well established when Liberia's economy starts rolling.
10/05/12
Equatorial Palm bullish on palm oil as prices rise12/04/12
Equatorial Palm Oil announces repayment of US$10 mln loan06/02/12
Equatorial Palm Oil appoints ESIA consultant; advances plans for Liberia18/01/12
Equatorial Palm Oil shares rise as it announces key milestone28/11/11
Equatorial Palm Oil's executive plantations director ups stake in firm
27/08/2010
26/08/2010
“Our mission is to become a sustainable, low-cost African producer of Crude Palm Oil (CPO) in Africa through the reactivation and development of its existing plantations and land bank in Liberia.”
PALM BAY EXPANSION AREA
Palm Bay Plantation – Location & Access
The Palm Bay Plantation is located 160km south east of the Liberian capital of Monrovia, in Grand Bassa County. Road access is via the main road from Monrovia to Buchanan followed by a secondary laterite road from the Buchanan port inland to the plantation.
The road quality and access times are as follows:
* Monrovia to Buchanan is 130 km, and takes approximately 2 hours drive on a sealed road which has good all weather access.
* Buchanan to Palm Bay is 30 km, and takes approximately a 1 hour drive on a former logging, gravel road which has moderate access.
Access to the Palm Bay Plantation through the Port of Buchanan will be an important alternative to the Monrovia road access. In its current condition, the port is unable to accept the large commercial vessels for which it was designed but it is expected that this will be improved as Arcelor Mittal and other businesses in Grand Bassa county continue to invest.
The Company is working with a local surveying firm, Earthcons, to survey and accurately map the Palm Bay Plantation. Under the terms of the Palm Bay Investment Agreement, once finally surveyed, the plantation maps of the Palm Bay Plantation will form an annexe to the Palm Bay Investment Agreement.
The Palm Bay Plantation benefits from its close proximity to the Port of Buchanan facilities. LFPI [previously operated] a CPO storage tank within the Port of Buchanan.3 It is the intention of the Company to re-establish facilities at the port.
For more information CLICK HERE
RIVER CESS COUNTY EXPANSION AREA
Pursuant to a Memorandum of Intent relating to the River Cess Area, the Group intends to undertake an investment to develop oil palms on suitable land provided from tribal landowners in the area.
The Memorandum of Intent in relation to the River Cess Area is subject to further legal documentation and approval processes to facilitate access and or use of the identified land in River Cess – additional information is provided at paragraph 6 of Part 9 of this document. The levels of shared interest between the parties to the MOI are yet to be agreed. It should be noted that under the Company’s current business plan the Company has sufficient expansion land under the Investment Agreements with the Government of Liberia for 12 years of development.
The proposed development would be for a minimum of 80,000 hectares and consist of an oil palm plantation to be developed jointly by the Group and the tribal landowners.
The River Cess County representatives and administration conducted a preliminary awareness program to inform the tribal landowners of the proposal during 2007, which received a favourable outcome.
The process for agreeing a contract over the River Cess Area is estimated to take at least 30 months from commencement, the timing of which requires further discussion.
For more information CLICK HERE
BUTAW EXPANSION AREA
Butaw Plantation – Location and Access
The Butaw Plantation is located 350 km from Monrovia in Sinoe County. The road quality and access times are as follows:
* Monrovia to Buchanan is 130 km, and takes approximately 2 hours drive on a sealed road which has good all weather access.
* Buchanan to Greenville is 200 km, and takes approximately 8 hours drive on a deteriorated road which has moderate access.
* Greenville to Butaw is 20km and approximately 1 hourdrive on a road which requires improvement and is currently limited to small vehicles.4
* The road leg from Greenville to the Butaw Plantation requires immediate civil works on log bridges, culverts and surface works to enable heavy machinery and four wheel drive access into the plantation.5 An initial engineering survey has been undertaken and the construction and repairing of this infrastructure is expected to commence shortly after completion of the Placing, and is expected to be completed by early 2009.
* Sea Freight access to the Butaw Plantation through the Port of Greenville will be an important alternative to the Monrovia Greenville road especially during the wet season when road access will be more difficult. There are a number of small charter companies who currently provide sea freight services from Monrovia, delivering to the Ports of Buchanan, Greenville and Harper. The current condition of the Port of Greenville is such that only small vessels can be utilised in the short term and it is not expected to be used to deliver the mill intended for the Butaw Plantation, which the Company anticipates will be transported by road from Monrovia.
The Company is again working with a local surveying firm, Earthcons, to survey and accurately map the Butaw Plantation. Under the terms of the Butaw Investment Agreement, once finally surveyed, the plantation maps of the Butaw Plantation will form an annexe to the Butaw Investment Agreement.
For more information CLICK HERE
DIRECTORS
Michael Frayne
Position: Executive Chairman
Michael Frayne has a Bachelor of Commerce Degree majoring in accounting and finance, a Bachelor of Science Degree majoring in Geology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Applied Finance and Investment from the Securities Institute of Australia. He is Chartered Accountant and a member of the Australian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.
Mr Frayne was previously employed at major international accounting firm, Ernst & Young, and consulted to a number of resource and commodity companies. He then worked directly in the resource industry including Great Central Mines Ltd (now part of Newmont Ltd). He then joined the corporate team of Minara Resources Ltd (formerly Anaconda Nickel Ltd), the majority owner of the Murrin Murrin Nickel Cobalt Project in Western Australia whose major investors were Anglo American Group and Glencore International.
Since 2002, Michael has provided corporate management and advice to the resource, commodity and energy sectors, successfully listing several companies with projects in Australia, Southern Africa, Asia, North and South America, onto AIM and the Australian Stock Exchange. Most recently Michael founded and was the joint managing director of Asia Energy plc. Michael is one of the founders of the Company, overseeing the company strategy, performing day-to-day executive duties and building the senior management team.
Peter Bayliss
Position: Managing Director
Peter Bayliss has nearly 20 years experience in the plantation sector. He holds Bachelor of Science from the University of London and a Masters of Business Administration from the University of Bath. He joined New Britain Palm Oil Development Ltd (then a subsidiary of Harrisons & Crosfield Plc) in Papua New Guinea in 1988 where he was employed on various plantations growing oil palms. During his time at New Britain Palm Oil Development Ltd, Peter was involved in all aspects of business operations. His last position held was as project manager responsible for the development of 9,000 hectares of oil palm and the establishment of a cattle stud and feedlot.
In 1996, he was recruited by London Sumatra Singapore Ltd and seconded to PT PP London Sumatra Indonesia where he was directly responsible for the implementation in Indonesia of a 10 year program to plant 187,000 hectares of oil palm and 26,000 hectares of rubber throughout Indonesia. Prior to his appointment with the Company, Peterwas a key member of the senior management team with PTAgro Muko (a subsidiary of the SIPEF NV group) and responsible for all aspects of agricultural policy and quality control on 20,000 hectares of oil palm and rubber development in Sumatra.
Geoffrey Brown
Position: Executive Plantations Director
Geoffrey Brown has over 38 years experience in the plantation sector. He joined Harrisons & Crosfield plc in Malaysia in 1962 where he was employed on various plantations growing oil palm and rubber. He moved to Indonesia in 1976 and was made responsible for Harrisons & Crosfield’s interests in that country. He was appointed executive Chairman of London Sumatra Indonesia in 1982 and remained Managing Director of this large Indonesian plantation company until 1998. In 1990, he was appointed an executive director of Harrisons & Crosfield Plc, responsible for the plantation division. Harrisons & Crosfield Plc owned and managed plantations of rubber, oil palms, cocoa, coffee and tea in Indonesia, and oil palm and coffee in Papua New Guinea. He remained an executive director of Harrisons & Crosfield Plc until the company divested itself of its plantation interest in 1994. In 1999 and 2000, he co-ordinated the expansion of oil palm plantations belonging to the Musim Mas Group in Indonesia and has since then been a consultant specialising in plantation management.
Joseph Jaoudi
Position: Non-Executive Director
Joseph Jaoudi holds two degrees, a Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics Major Electronics and a Masters Degree in System Engineering and Business Administration from the University of California. Joseph has over 46 years of experience in engineering and business ventures. Heworked for seven years on the ground support system for the Apollo project and three years on the attitude control unit of the Intelstat 5 Communication Satellite. During the early 1980’s with the support of the California Energy Commission, he established a Biomass Alternate Energy Plant in the San Joaquin Valley. The project was sold and is presently operating as a Cogeneration Power Plant. He served 14 years as a Director of First National Bank of North County, two years of which were as Chairman. For the last four years (and ongoing) he has served as an Advisory Board Member of First Pacific Bank in San Diego County. Between 1970 and 1990, beside the Alternate Energy Project, he served as President and CEO of many family and personal trading companies in Liberia, West Africa that owned and operated wholesale facilities at the Freeport of Monrovia, a chain of supermarkets around Liberia, and a 35,000 acre oil palm concession in Grand Bassa County Liberia (in the area which is now the subject of the Palm Bay Investment Agreement).
Anthony Samaha
Position: Non-Executive Director
Anthony Samaha holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Economics degrees. He is an Associate of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Australia and an Associate of the Securities Institute of Australia. Anthony has over 15 years’ experience in providing accounting and corporate advice in a diverse range of industry sectors including resource development. He has previously held senior advisory positions in the corporate finance divisions of internationally affiliated accounting firms and has extensive experience in valuations, independent expert’s reports, due diligence, capital raisings and mergers and acquisitions. He is a non-executive director of AIM quoted Altona Energy Plc.
Shankar Varadharajan
Non-Executive Director
Shankar Varadharajan holds Bachelor of Technology from Anna University Chennai, Masters in Business Administration specializing in Finance from Bharathidasan Institute of Management, Trichy and Master of Science specializing in Financial Information Systems from University of Illinois.
Shankar has over 13 years of Global Management Experience in various Multinational Corporations including Motorola and the Tata Group. Started his career has an Investment Banker working extensively on financing long gestation infrastructure projects. He has previously held senior positions in these Corporations and has extensive experience in Business Strategy, Project Financing and Capital Raising, Mergers and Valuations, Program Management and Third Party Vendor Management. He also served on the Board of 21st Century Infra Tele Limited a Tata Group Company.
MANAGEMENT
Allen Yancy, III
Position: Director of Corporate Affairs
Allen Yancy has been involved extensively in Liberian business and politics since the late 1970’s. Allen served as Managing Director from 1980 to 1985 and Deputy Managing Director of the Liberian Sugar Corporation from 1978 to 1980. This was a pioneering industry in Liberia and was a fully integrated business model from the growing of sugar cane through to the industrial processes of sugar refining. Mr Yancy during his time at Liberian Sugar managed a large team of agronomists, engineers and line managers. Allen has been extensively involved at senior levels of government and business in Liberia for most of his life.
Tim Daniel
Position: Chief Financial Officer
Tim is a Qualified Chartered Accountant and is ex-KPMG. Tim subsequently worked as an investment analyst with a London-based hedge fund, focusing on the high yield bond market.
Name & Registered Office
Equatorial Palm Oil, One America Square, Crosswall, London EC3N 2SG
Company No. 05555087,
Country of Origin: United Kingdom
Registered: England and Wales
VAT No: 906316833.
Advising Agronomists
ACP Plantation Services
Taman Bukit Kaya
70200 Seremban
Negeri Sembilan, Malaysia
Auditors and Reporting Accountants
Chapman Davis LLP
2 Chapel Court
London SE1 1HH
Joint Brokers
Mirabaud Securities LLP
21 St James’s Square
London SW1Y 4JP
Shore Capital Stockbrokers
The Corn Exchange
Fenwick Street
Liverpool L2 7RB
Nominated Adviser
Shore Capital & Corporate Limited
Bond Street House
14 Clifford Street
London W1S 4JU
Registrars and Crest Service Provider
Share Registrars Limited
Craven House
West Street
Farnham
Surrey GU9 7EN
LONDON
Equatorial Palm Oil Plc
94 Jermyn
London SW1Y 6JE
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0) 207 766 7555
Fax: +44 (0) 207 766 7599
Email: enquiries@epoil.co.uk
LIBERIA
Equatorial Palm Oil Liberia.
P.O. Box 1432
1000 Monrovia
Liberia
Tel: +231 7702 6767
Fax: +231 (0) 7755 5550
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Pelham Bell Pottinger
Charles Vivian,
Klara Kaczmarek
Tel: +44 (0) 207 861 3232
Fax: +44 (0) 207 861 3233
Name & Registered Office
Equatorial Palm Oil, One America Square, Crosswall, London EC3N 2SG
As of 22nd July 2011 the following were registered as being interested in 3% or more of the Company's ordinary share capital:
| Name | Number of Ordinary Shares | % of Issued Capital |
| Lynchwood Nominees Limited* | 35,800,233 | 28.68% |
| Chase Nominees Limited | 4,425,000 | 3.55% |
| Chase Nominees Limited | 4,863,966 | 3.90% |
| Joseph Jaoudi | 4,425,000 | 3.55% |
| Michael Frayne | 6,494,085 | 5.20% |
*Of which BioPalm Energy Limited owns 26.71% totalling to 33,333,333 shares
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