Updated Presentation From the Trust

tpltblogger24 Comments

SEC Filing

PDF

Ugly just got uglier.  Trustees leaves no stone unturned in what looks to be another deep ball to the end zone.

Again, this is all to keep a representative of a group that holds 25% of equity outstanding from becoming ONE OF THREE trustees.

As motives become more clear and desperation becomes more obvious, this is starting to look more like a hostage situation than a proxy battle.

 

24 thoughts on “Updated Presentation From the Trust”

  2. no doubt…..they need to go
    insecure ….this is the most communication they’ve ever had, and only because their sinecure is threatened… mistake after mistake….voted FOR Oliver….I have contacted the TPL numerous times providing full contact info….never a response……well, they’ll see me at the meeting…UNLIKE them I have a lot of wealth tied up in TPL…..time to bring’em into the 21st century

    Liked by 2 people

  3. Its quite pathetic….a full spin on what a wonderful (read lucky) job they have done, and attack on any shadow of anything from HK. And its being done with shareholder money, of which they own collectively almost nothing.

    The height of spin is seen with this line, on page 20. “However, all of our executives and trustees have purchased shares personally, which are meaningful positions for each individual.” They forgot to say Glover owned no shares until 2018, and then its only 100. Something is wrong when I own more than both executives and one director combined.

    As I said a few posts ago, they are acting desperate, and showing exceedingly bad judgement with our money. They all need to be replaced and that is why they may be fighting so hard….the handwriting is on the wall, and this is bigger than their ability to effectively manage.

    The bidding contest that is developing for Anadarko with Chevron and Occidental suggests TPL is also becoming more valuable. And thats why we need seasoned professionals with O&G experience, who are supportive of governance and transparency.

    Liked by 2 people

  4. Shame to see this get so ugly… feels an awful lot like a modern political campaign where your left with two bad options and you need to choose between the lesser of two evils rather then a candidate you truly believe in.

    Liked by 1 person

  5. Just curious why you would think the Oliver-HK option is a bad option. They have stated multiple times they have no interest in selling the trust and want to maximize the trust assets. The current management has no incentive to bring more communication to shareholders or even increase share price as they own literally no stock

    Liked by 2 people

    • @TPLfan…. Even if only 15% of today’s updated report from TPL is true, it raises some significant questions about Oliver’s integrity and disclosure practices. I’m not saying the HK option is a bad option, I do favor their approach to the future of TPL. But it is plausible that they got it wrong in choosing Oliver and that some of how they (HK) are presenting the situation that led to where we are today is somewhat exaggerated or inaccurate.

      Liked by 1 person

  6. Have these guys lost their minds? This is a big F YOU to shareholders.

    Besides being offensive to shareholders, this is really poor strategy by the Trustees.

    Here’s my updated prediction: Oliver wins by very wide margin. Packer, Glover, Norris, and Barry all out within 12 months. Once Oliver is on the inside and starts shedding some light on internal communications and potential self-dealing, we’ll start to see some rapid resignations.

    Liked by 2 people

  7. The more they try to force Cook down our throats, the more I wonder about what they are trying to hide. They don’t want the stockholders to know what they are doing and are afraid that a true ‘outsider’ will uncover things that they don’t want us to see. The quality of their financial report sucks as it’s lacking any detail. White card sent in.

    Liked by 1 person

  8. One point they made that is very valid is Oliver’s claim to be on the board of a bank. I researched that myself when he first showed up and could not find that bank, or a listed board of directors.

    Liked by 1 person

  9. The comments here are fuled by emotions while attacking people’s livelihoods. So we want to push the guys out that actually brought the trust into the 21st century….huh, okay! Before Glover and Packer took over, there was no field oversight. With only 8 employees in the past how do you believe TPL was able to manage trespassing, disposal volumes, etc? How about everyone use your vote to express your feelings rather than attacking “all” management.

    Like

    • I have no interest in hurting anyone’s livelihood. I do have an interest in TPL being run optimally. I also have an interest in seeing that my investment has proper stewardship. I’m not convinced on the last two. No rational person would be.

      Like

    • Jack,
      You seem to consider the livelihood of the 2 managers, but not the livelihood of the thousands of shareholders who are harmed by holding TPL back from its potential.

      If the Trust were to convert to a C-Corp with normal governance and with appropriate business operational disclosures, the stock price would almost certainly be elevated from where it has been as an entity with horrific disclosures and a legal structure that prohibits many would-be shareholders from investing.

      Has the performance been good so far? Sure. But don’t kid yourself — if this is the performance that these guys were able to achieve, I am very excited to find out what value will be unlocked when adults are brought in to run things.

      Liked by 2 people

    • Jack,

      My problem with current management is they have no skin in the game with share ownership other than a token window dressing small number of shares. I am a small investor and have more shares than three of them combined! They also have started a war with HK over oversight and governance concerns. The problem for me is TPL management is perfectly fine with funding this war, which has to be costing in the millions, while it costs them individually little due to lack of share ownership.

      The smart thing to have done was just to accepted the Eric Oliver nomination and not put up a retired general that looks good on paper, but has no O&G experience. HK has owned shares since 1995 and that alone shows their long run value orientation. They own 25% of the company, and are hardly the activist demons they are being made out to be.

      TPLblogger has made reference to the agency problem, which unfortunately is being currently documented by TPL management. They don’t get why this is important which is why all of them should be eventually removed.

      Liked by 2 people

  10. I totally agree. If these guys were any good, the reports that they would submit for Trustee approval and release to shareholders would include the number of DUCs and the number of wells in production in addition to other statistics.
    Royalty payments are based on the well reports filed with governmental agencies, and those should be listed on a well by well basis. Does anyone think that they have employees patrolling the acreage looking for someone patrolling TPL land? Most of it is automatic as part of the leases, so I’m not convinced that they’ve added anything to the operation, just saying.

    Liked by 1 person

  11. I’m still pro-Oliver with my votes, but have to admit the Blue ticket is scoring some points in undermining my confidence in his qualifications with their smear tactics (but, conveniently,not even trying to rebut any of the conflict of interest accusations thrown at the current trustees). How will White respond in this slugfest?
    This battle has become so personal that it’s hard to envision how the sides could ever work together productively. Both sides will likely be spending their energies trying to irritate the other side into resigning their seat.
    I see many positive challenges Oliver will bring to the discourse, but worry in the back of my mind what could actually happen if HK were ever to amass 51% of the subshares. I want to understand what rights a majority shareholder could exercise unilaterally. Hope we never get to that tipping point.

    Liked by 2 people

  12. I agree this has gotten intense but how can you look at what the current management and trustees have been doing and have any confidence in them. They literally own no stock and are acting like they started this company. What do they have to loose if the business and stock price go down nothing. Ty Glover who is 33 has a lifetime appointment earning $2 million a year. What have he and Packer done to be rewarded that. At least HK AND Oliver have their money where there mouth is. Also curious how much money they have spent on this proxy battle overnighted proxy cards, attorneys, and solicitors.

    Liked by 2 people

  13. wow. I remember the statement I did not burn my bridges I napalmed them. They are basically trying to force their biggest long term holder to have a run on the bank as they say. Binary outcome.I just voted my proxies white and I will post my reasons i a follow up.

    Liked by 3 people

  14. So I just put 813 shares in the mail for the white ticket. Its my biggest position so I spent a lot of time thinking about it. Here are some of the reasons I chose white.I will also post this on Yahoo and Seeking alpha at some point.

    #1 is trustee for life. Too much money involved to potentially have two persons with dementia handing out bonuses

    #2 Maurice Meyer is dead and maybe too is the soul and compass of the trustees. He held 65k shares and was properly incentivized to do the right thing for shareholders. Its noticeable that the indians started going wild when he got sick.

    #3 it sickens me that they are not buying more stock in when the stock fell to 420.

    #4 very disappointed with them putting up preston young as a trustee and following that up with general cook. Reeks of bad judgement.

    #5 are you a growth company or a liquidating trust?

    #6 i do not prejudge the decision to get in the water business and hire a bunch of people but I understand that an operating company with a lot of employees is not a pure play streaming company and will get a lesser multiple. I also wonder with the three blind mice as trustees whether it becomes and an employment agency for the friends and family network. Private equity would pay billions for a water rights deal

    #7 this campaign by the TPL trustees and management reminds me of bad political opposition research. Written by public relations firms. Bad math as well. They are basically attacking the company that has had significant skin in the game since 1991. By my math Tyler glover was 7 years old. They are acting like Olivers election will be the end of their lives. They are wasting a lot of my money in this campaign. my money

    #8 I spoke on the phone for awhile with David Barry. Not impressed. He and the team reminds me of a guy that goes into 7-11 and lets the machine pick random lottery numbers and wins the powerball. Then he tries to sell himself as a genius gambler.

    Now is Eric Oliver a good candidate? Could be better. Is he better for shareholders than General Cook? yes I think so.

    Ultimately I am going to send my vote as a disapproval of the current business structure and the arrogance of management that has no skin in the game.

    Liked by 3 people

  15. Do people know if they vote against Oliver on the blue proxy they receive it’s considered a no vote? I agree Eric Oliver might be a flawed trustee but think he is a best option right now. It could be helpful for tpl blogger to explain the proxy rules unbiased. I would vote blue if they had a candidate with large enough net worth to build a position or to not care about short term pay but don’t see that in cook.

    Liked by 1 person

  16. Here is a link to a simple Google search, “Softvest Mineral Rights”:

    http://www.mineralholders.com/texas/abilene/softvest-lp/7609007

    This has been a concern of mine since the beginning of the proxy fight. Current trustees and management need to modernize the Trust’s charter towards term limits, voting rights to shareholders and an outline of the 5, 10 and 25 year plan for the Trust. They have modernized their pay structure, but have not added any oversight or resolved the Trustee/Executive “for life” loophole that they are exploiting beyond reason.

    On the flip side, the dissident investor group has not addressed the potential conflicts (I don’t know if these are real conflicts or perceived), and this is disconcerting.

    How do the rest of us investors, without 8, 9 or 10 figure holdings in the Trust reconcile these problems with both groups? I am really angry with everyone in this situation. They are both ready to carpet bomb the golden goose’s nest for their egos, rather than finding a solution best for us, the real little guys and gals?

    I’m probably going to vote for Oliver, but not without MASSIVE hesitation. Executive and trustee power needs to be culled, but there is no noble steed in this race.

    Liked by 1 person

  17. At this point, ANYONE BUT whom the Trustees want would be my choice. There has to be a reason why they are spending OUR money so foolishly to keep the current ‘Tell the stockholders nothing’ attitude they have by ‘owning’ the incoming Trustee. I’m repeating myself, but what are they hiding that they have to try so hard to keep control of who’s on the inside?

    Liked by 1 person

    • I don’t think they are hiding anything. The truth is in plain sight. Executive management and trustees have lifetime jobs. They have modernized their pay structure, without modernizing their terms (i.e. they all still have lifetime positions). It’s all available for all of us…just have to read the annual report to see the truth.

      Liked by 1 person

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