East West CEO David Sidoo steps down

East West Petroleum Corp. [EW-TSXV] reported Thursday March 14 that David Sidoo is no longer the company’s President and Chief Executive Officer. The move follows the announcement that East West has cancelled its annual shareholders meeting, which was scheduled for March 15, 2019 in Vancouver.

An announcement regarding a new date will be forthcoming, the company said in a March 12, 2019 press release.

As has been mentioned in the media, the company said, Sidoo has been named in legal proceedings from the United States government. “In light of this legal action, Sidoo has decided that it would be in the best interests of the company to take a leave of absence from his executive role in the company,” East West said in a press release.

However, the subject matter of the legal proceedings is unrelated to company activities or business and Sidoo remains a director of the company. Sidoo is a Vancouver-based businessman who was also a professional footballer in the Canadian Football League.

On Thursday, East West Petroleum shares were unchanged at 10 cents, and trade in a 52-week range of 12 cents and 8.5 cents.

East West Petroleum was established in 2010 to invest in international oil and gas opportunities. The company has a focus on two key areas: New Zealand, where it has established production and cash flow, and Romania where it is carried to production on an exploration program. In Romania, the company has exploration rights in four exploration concessions covering one million acres in the prolific Pannonian Basin of western Romania with Naftna Industrija Srbije (NIS).

East West has previously said its aim is to build a large, high-potential resource position in countries that combine low political risk with attractive fiscal terms and high impact exploration opportunities. Another key goal is to target conventional resources, which can be quickly and easily commercialized following a discovery.

However, back in July 2018, the company said it had agreed to implement a restructuring following the signing of a letter of intent to acquire all the issued and outstanding shares of Juva Life Inc., a California-based cannabis company.

East West said the first step in the restructuring would be the planned spin-out of the oil and gas operations into a wholly-owned subsidiary of East West. The company said it would then spin out the shares of this new subsidiary to its shareholders under a plan of arrangement.

The company’s capital structure would then be amended to allow the plan of arrangement to be completed such that all of the company’s outstanding shares would be consolidated on a 10:1 basis.

Upon completion of the letter of intent, it was intended that Juva would proceed with private placements comprised of 22 million units priced at 35 cents each, with each until consisting of one Juva share and one-half common share purchase warrant enabling the holder to acquire one additional Juva share at 60 cents for 18 months.

Shareholders were scheduled to vote on these matters at the annual meeting.

Also, in a January 8, 2018 news release, East West said it had been advised by Tag Oil Ltd. [TAO-TSX, TAOIF-OTCQX] that Tag has reached a deal to sell 100% of its New Zealand assets, including the Cheal permits, which are 70% owned by TAG and 30% by East West.

“Management is currently assessing the options available to realize the value from its 30% holding in the Cheal permits.” East West said the Cheal-E site mining permit in the Taranaki Basis is producing at a rate of 85 BOE/D (78% oil).