History
Harken Energy, later HKN, spread from Colombian oil into side bets, sold its producing assets in 2011, lent to its former subsidiary, and deregistered in 2015.
2004-2006: Colombia, Peru and a side bet
In 2004 the company, then called Harken, was built around its Colombian oil business, run through Global Energy Development, which it owned 85.62%. In September 2004 it made two moves. Its IBA Holding subsidiary put $12.5 million into International Business Associates, a startup chasing energy-deregulation opportunities in Eastern Europe, well outside Harken's core business. Days later Global signed a contract for the 75,000-acre Rio Verde block in Colombia's Llanos Basin.
In March 2005 Harken said its 2004 accounts could no longer be relied on. Its auditor had found an unrecorded compensation charge tied to a stock-option plan change at Global, and a restatement followed. In April 2005 Global, then 85%-owned, signed a contract with Peru's state oil company for the 1.26-million-acre Block 95 in the Marañón Basin.
In February 2006 Harken partly cashed out of the Eastern Europe bet. International Business Associates redeemed 7,500 of its 12,500 preferred shares for $7.5 million, and Harken's board seats there fell from three to one. By then its Global stake stood at 34%, though the filings in the record do not explain the fall.
2007-2011: A new name and a new technology
The record is quiet between 2007 and 2009. By 2008 the company was named HKN, Inc. In June 2009 it issued 1 million restricted shares for a 19.5% stake in UniPureEnergy, a waste-oil purification technology startup. The sellers included Quadrant Management, an affiliate of chairman Alan Quasha, so this was a related-party deal. HKN later raised the holding to full ownership in 2011, through further deals with Quadrant, and the business became BriteWater International.
In 2010 it lent Global $5 million. In November 2011 it sold its Main Pass 35 offshore Louisiana assets for $19.75 million and had a deal in principle for its remaining Gulf Coast properties. After that it said it would hold no producing oil and gas interests.
2012-2013: Lender and reverse split
With production gone, HKN became a lender. In January 2012 it extended a further $12 million unsecured loan to Global, while still holding its 34% stake. In October 2012 the board moved the stock from the NYSE MKT to the OTCQB. The exchange had warned that a planned 1-for-40 reverse split would leave too few shares in public hands to stay listed. A notice of removal from listing followed on 5 November.
In March 2013 HKN refinanced the roughly $17 million Global owed it into a new loan running to June 2015 at 12.75%, guaranteed by Global's main operating subsidiary.
2014-2015: Closing the books
The record for 2014 and most of 2015 is quiet. On 22 October 2015 the board voted to stop reporting to the SEC and announced this by press release on 23 October. On 12 November 2015 HKN deregistered its securities, ending its obligation to file reports. As of the latest beat it had 390,916 shares on issue.
Written from the 13 story beats below (2004 to 12 Nov 2015), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.