Afren clears out boardroom in shake up

All but one of the board members at beleaguered Afren have resigned as the embattled oil and gas company heads towards a financial restructuring.

Founder Egbert Imomoh, Afren’s executive chairman, and four non-executive directors did not stand for re-election at its annual shareholder meeting on Thursday.

David Frauman, a lawyer who has been working on Afren’s restructuring, will join as non-executive chairman, the UK-listed group said.

Afren shares have lost 98 per cent of their value over the past year, with the Africa-focused group hit by plummeting oil prices as well as the suspension and subsequent sacking of its chief executive and chief operating officer. The company made a net loss of $1.7bn in 2014.

Alan Linn remains on the board after he was appointed as chief executive in April. Mr Linn replaced Osman Shahenshah, who was sacked last year for gross misconduct over his receipt of secret payments.

Mr Imomoh said events of the past year had “radically changed our company.

Afren was unable to complete a planned debt refinancing last year and takeover talks with Seplat, another Nigeria-focused oil producer, were abandoned in February. Group revenue fell more than 42 per cent year-on-year.

A vote on the current recapitalisation plan is due next month.