Cannell Capital Announces Discontinuance of Strad Class Action

ALTA, Wyo., July 10, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Cannell Capital LLC ("CC"), General Partner to Tristan Partners, L.P. and Investment Advisor to Tristan Offshore Fund, Ltd. is pleased to announce the discontinuance of the matter of Tristan Partners, et al. vs. Strad Energy Services, Ltd. ("Strad") [Queen's Bench File No. 1601-07269]. Said discontinuance was granted by the Queen's Bench on May 17, 2017 effective July 6, 2017.

CC is heartened by the recent appointment of both Tom Alford and Mick McNulty to Strad's Board of Directors, two individuals which Tristan had requested join the Board of Strad as part and parcel of settlement. CC is confident that Strad shareholders will benefit more from the vision and oversight which Mssrs. Alford and McNulty bring to the Board of Directors than litigation.

In 2014 "peak" EBITDA of Strad was CN $59 million. Today, however, its market capitalization is only CN $84 million. Consensus estimate for 2018 EBITDA is CN $32 million. CC has no acumen to pinpoint cycles but it does believe that CN $84 million is a small price to pay for a good company with dramatically reduced expenses emerging from a severe downturn.

The better question is what will 2019 bring.

CC believes that Strad is making good acquisitions at the right time. The time to be greedy is when everybody is panicking, much like the time to buy straw hats is in the winter.

Toward this end, CC in 2017 has increased its holding of Strad to 6.8% through an additional purchase of 224,585 shares of Strad. We eat what we bake. (The discontinuance of the legal action mentioned above should not, however, imply any conclusion by CC as to the merit of the underlying statement of claim.)

That was then. This is now.

CC believes that the Board addition of Alford and McNulty adds operational experience and more robust oversight and independence for the benefit of all shareholders. Accordingly, CC believes our investors and other Strad shareholders are best served through support and investment of Strad now versus litigation.

SOURCE Cannell Capital LLC