■ Peter Sametz, former President and COO of the company, has been
reinstated and appointed interim CEO. In addition, Gregory Boland,
CEO and co-CIO of Westface Capital, has been appointed to the Board.
We believe that these moves suggest an increased likelihood that the
company will be sold.
We believe Mr. Sametz's operational expertise
and experience with Great Divide makes the company more attractive
to potential purchasers without operating experience, while Mr. Boland
will be certainly looking to maximize shareholder value, given his
firm's position in CLL.
■ The company released its year-end reserves and resources. Bitumen
reserves were essentially unchanged, while contingent resources fell by
46 MMbbl, with new additions partially offsetting the sale of 77
MMbbl associated with the company's 50% interest in Halfway Creek.
Recommendation
■ We maintain our 2-Sector Perform rating, but have increased our one year
target to $1.25/sh, as we believe the company could get purchased
for something between our 1P and 2P NAV estimate
( as per Scotia Capital CLL 1P=$0.95)
