D1 Oils chairman quits after losing biofuel fight

Mar 16 2010 By Christopher Knox, The Journal

THE chairman of biofuel company D1 Oils has stood down after his plans to change the focus of the business were rejected by fellow board members.

City figure Brian Myerson has been pressing D1’s senior executives to shift from planting biofuel crops to producing biofuels.

But his plans have been rejected and Mr Myerson, whose company owns 27% of D1’s shares, has stood down from the board. A statement from D1 Oil, which began life in the North East, said that Mr Myerson had left the board with immediate effect, with non-executive director Barclay Forrest assuming the role of chairman.

A spokesman for D1 Oils said: "Mr Myerson wanted to use D1’s funds and infrastructure to develop in Mozambique, while at the same time ceasing work on the jatropha project.

"This was strongly rejected by the board and Mr Myerson has stood down so that the company can continue trading with an agreed strategy.

"However, he is still a major shareholder and the company will continue to include him in further discussions."

The spokesman also said that the board was now committed to growing the business, despite announcing in November that it had received a number of takeover approaches.

AIM-listed D1 Oils, which was founded by North East entrepreneur Karl Watkin, has now planted 544,000 acres of the jatropha plant in areas including India and South Asia, and plans to use it in the production of bio-diesel.

The move has been welcomed by Mr Watkin, who still owns shares in the company and who said that the situation had been extremely disruptive.

He added: "I am relieved that this matter has been resolved and am grateful to Barclay Forrest for keeping calm during this situation.

"I believe that he will now be able to bring some cohesion to the business after what has been a very challenging and divisive time for the board."

It is understood that Myerson had been at loggerheads with the company’s board of investors since November, when he proposed that it issue new shares to raise money to buy sugar ethanol business Principle Energy, which he is setting up in Mozambique.

Mr Myerson is said to have then planned to refocus the business by investing in a new plant in the African region and ditching D1’s jatropha- growing programme.

D1’s shift in focus has seen the company move away biofuel production, which has resulted in the closure of refineries in Teesside and Merseyside two years ago, with the loss of 90 jobs.

Mr Myerson became chairman in December 2008 after his activist fund Principle Capital became the company’s largest shareholder with a 27.55% stake.

It is not the first time that Mr Myerson has been in the news, with the South African facing a rebellion in his own boardroom after Principle Capital’s shareholders became frustrated by the company’s poor investment track record.

His personal life has also been a matter for discussion after it was revealed that he attempted to reduce a £11m divorce settlement with his ex-wife following the revelation that he had set up a mistress and their son around the corner from his home in Hampstead, London.