History
A bankrupt Canadian shell became an oil and gas explorer, bought a Northwest Territories and New Mexico portfolio, then moved into producing Alberta fields through Cougar, ending in a very cheap 2011 raising.
2003-2005: Bankruptcy and a fresh start
The company began life as Island Critical Care Corp. On February 4, 2003 it was declared bankrupt after its final extension under Canadian bankruptcy law ran out. A trustee was appointed and the board resigned. On April 7, 2004 a Canadian court approved a proposal under which its liabilities were paid off and extinguished, all officers and directors were terminated, and Marc Juliar took control. He was issued 15,000,000 new shares without shareholder notice, lifting shares outstanding from 33,531,761 to 48,533,761, about 31% of the total, so existing holders were diluted but kept their shares.
By 2005 the company was called Kodiak Energy. In October it reported its first oil and gas activity: a joint venture with an unnamed Canadian public company on Montana leases, where Kodiak would spend US$600,000 on up to four wells to earn 50%, plus a 50% share of 2 sections of land bought in southeastern Alberta.
2006-2008: Big raisings and a failed takeover
In November 2006 Kodiak said it would restate its 2005 results and two 2006 quarters, blaming inadequate record-keeping in its start-up phase. The board said those reports should not be relied on.
The company then raised money on a much larger scale. On September 28, 2007 it sold 4,622,670 shares for $12,490,000, at $2.50 and $3.00, with a placement agent paid about 8%. It had to seek a TSX Venture listing by December 28, 2007 or pay investors a penalty. The same day it agreed to buy assets from Thunder River Energy and CIMA Holdings for up to $27,000,000: a 43% working interest in a Northwest Territories exploration licence, rights over about 55,000 acres in New Mexico and a share of seismic data. Payment included 7,000,000 shares at closing and up to 6,000,000 more on milestones. A further 335,000 shares were sold in October 2007 for $1,005,000.
In June 2008 Kodiak signed a letter agreement to buy private Calgary company Brink Energy for about CAD$30,000,000, its first move toward producing assets. By August 19 it was terminated, with management saying Brink had not met the agreement's requirements. Kodiak was reviewing ways to recover a CAD$1,000,000 loan it had advanced, a break fee and its costs. No recovery was reported.
2008-2009: CREEnergy, Cougar and Trout
In November 2008 Kodiak signed a joint venture with CREEnergy Oil and Gas, owned by two First Nations, for exclusive development rights over identified properties in Alberta. In March 2009 it said its 2007 and early 2008 statements should not be relied on. After SEC questions, the 7,000,000 Thunder shares would be valued at US$2.50 (US$17,500,000) rather than US$2.00, adding US$3,500,000 to recorded cost, and a US$1,125,835 flow-through share premium would be shown as a liability. No cash effect was reported.
In July 2009 its majority-owned Cougar Energy secured access to up to 345,000 acres under the CREEnergy deal, with the first 46,000 acres leased. Cougar then agreed to buy the Trout field, with 11 producing wells at about 170 barrels a day. It closed on September 30, 2009 for CAD$6 million: CAD$1 million at closing and CAD$5 million owed interest-free to the vendor through March 2014, guaranteed by Kodiak. Kodiak borrowed CAD$1,350,000 from Ionic Capital at 12%, plus 383,188 shares to be issued. Cougar also bought wells in the Kidney and Equisetum fields and took over Alexander and Crossfield properties when its Lucy project partner failed to finish its financing.
2009-2011: Delisting and a low-priced raising
On November 4, 2009 Kodiak asked to delist voluntarily from the TSX Venture Exchange, citing the cost of a dual listing. Its shares stayed on the US OTC Bulletin Board, where daily volume had averaged 270,413 shares against 14,022 on the TSX-V. On March 1, 2010 it completed the acquisition of 64.6% of Cougar Oil and Gas Canada, Inc., and guaranteed new Cougar Energy bank loans.
On January 18, 2011 Kodiak closed a placement of 10,000,000 units at US$0.15, raising US$1,500,000 from one investor. Each unit carried a warrant to buy a share at US$0.50 until January 18, 2013. The price was far below the US$2.50 paid in 2008. Shares on issue rose from 119,683,294 at the end of 2010 to 129,683,294 at the end of 2011. As of February 1, 2011, a Cdn$900,000 convertible note tied to a two-well program involved Kodiak and Cougar, and the status of the Ionic loan and the Brink recovery was unknown.
Written from the 18 story beats below (2003 to 19 Jan 2011), which come from the company's own announcements and filings.