Julien Balkany

Julien Balkany
Born (1981-01-29)29 January 1981
Neuilly, France
Residence New York, New York
Nationality French
Education UC Berkeley; IEP Strasbourg
Occupation Hedge Fund Manager
Home town France
Movement French Right wing - UMP
Board member of Chairman of Panoro Energy and former director of Gasfrac Energy Services, Noreco Energy and Toreador Resources
Spouse(s) Natacha Hadjez-Darty [1]
Awards ranked #1 on the 2008 annual list of the "30 under 30" traders published by the U.S. magazine Trader Monthly.[2]
Website http://www.julienbalkany.com
Julien Balkany

Julien Balkany (born 29 January 1981, in Neuilly-sur-Seine, France) is a French businessman and an investor based in London. He is the younger brother of French Member of Parliament, Patrick Balkany. He is the cofounder of the private investment company Nanes Balkany Partners based in New York. He also ran for office in the June 2012 French Parliament election.[3]

Studies and personal life

He is of Jewish Hungarian origin, and his father Gyula Balkany was deported to Auschwitz before immigrating to France and founding Rety, a Paris-based fashion house. His older brother Patrick Balkany[4] is a French political figure of the Union for a Popular Movement, a member of the National Assembly of France for the Hauts-de-Seine department and Mayor of Levallois-Perret.

He was raised in Neuilly and attended schools at Sainte-Croix de Neuilly and then at Prepasup-Ipesup, where he obtained his baccalaureate cum laude. He studied at the Institute of Political Studies in Strasbourg and received in 2002 a diploma in Finance from UC Berkeley Extension. He started his career in the emerging markets group of Bear Stearns in New York and lives in mid-town Manhattan.[5]

He married fashion editor and blogger Natacha Hadjez-Darty [6] in May 2013 at the Levallois city hall. His wife is the cousin of Jessica Sebaoun-Sarkozy and heiress to the consumer electronic company, the Darty group.

Business career

In 2008, Balkany co-founded Nanes Balkany Partners with Daryl Nanes. The firm is a New York-based activist hedge fund which primarily pursues active value investments in publicly traded oil and gas companies. He had substantial interests in Vaalco Energy[7] and Toreador Resources Corp. His strategy of attempting to take advantage of undervalued companies has contributed to his reputation of being an activist shareholder.[8] In November 2010, Balkany disposed of his shares in Nanes Balkany Partners I LP,[9] but remained a partner at Nanes Balkany Partners LLC and co-launched Nanes Balkany Partners II LP in 2011.[10] In May 2013, Balkany built a large stake in Petrogrand [11] and has been actively seeking to influence the Swedish oil company, to force it to exit Russia [12] and publicly supported Shelton Petroleum hostile takeover attempt.[13]

In 2014 his fund built a stake then became the largest shareholder of Gasfrac Energy Services Inc.,[14] a Canadian publicly listed oil and gas services company, which has developed and commercialized a unique environmentally friendly waterless fracking technology using propane gel (LPG) instead of water and chemical products. In May 2014 he obtained a full change of the board of directors of Gasfrac,[15] including the resignation of the 7 incumbent members of the Board,[16] and the nomination of 6 new directors, including himself.[17] After filing for CCAA protection in January 2015 Gasfrac sold most of its assets to Step Energy Services Ltd, a private coiled tubing company owned by private equity firm ARC Financial Corp.[18] He served as a non-executive director of Gasfrac[19] until the company was acquired by Calfrac Well Services Ltd under a plan of arrangement on July 8, 2015.[20]

In October 2014 he was elected chairman of the board of Panoro Energy,[21] a Norwegian oil and gas exploration and production companies with assets in Nigeria and Gabon listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. Nanes Balkany Partners has been one the new core shareholders[22] of Panoro that proactively obtained the election of a renewed board of directors.[23]

He served as non-executive vice-chairman and director of Toreador, an oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in France and listed on the NASDAQ, from January 2009 to March 2011. He initiated changes in management and in the board of directors of Toreador in January 2009,[24] in order to rebuild value for the shareholders.[25] After the firm was highly criticized for its alleged role in the controversy on shale gas exploration in France and the subsequent ban of use of hydraulic fracking technologies, he resigned from the Board in March 2011, with immediate effect. He continued acting in the capacity of a special advisor to Toreador's President until August 2011 when he severed all his links with the company.[26] Toreador completed a merger with Zaza Energy Corporation in February 2012 and later that year disposed of all its assets and businesses in France.

He has been a non-executive director of the board of the Norwegian Energy Company ASA ("Noreco"),[27] a Norwegian oil and gas exploration and production company publicly listed in Oslo and with operations and assets in Norway, the UK and Denmark, from March 2015 to May 2016,[28] until the sale of all its oil and gas assets. In March 2015, Noreco concluded an out-of-court financial restructuring including a debt to equity swap and the election of a new board of directors.[29]

Concomitantly, Balkany has been a managing director at Nanes Delorme Capital Management LLC, a New York-based financial advisory and broker-dealer firm, since 2005. He is also a member of the advisory board of Stellar Energy, a London-based investment bank dedicated to the oil and gas industry.

Recognition

Balkany was ranked #1 on the 2008 annual list of the "30 Under 30" world’s top traders and hedge fund managers published by the U.S. magazine Trader Monthly.[30]

In June 2010 He also received an award as one of Institutional Investor Magazine’s Hedge Fund Rising Stars at the 8th Annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards.[31]

On 11 February 2013 Balkany was hosted on CNBC Squawk Box by Andrew Ross Sorkin and discussed his views on energy activism and oil and gas M&A.[32]

Political career

On 11 November 2011, he announced that he would stand as candidate for the June 2012 French legislative elections in the First constituency for French residents overseas, including the United States and Canada.[33] He finished fourth, receiving 6.6% of the vote.[34] In spring 2013 he decided not run for the French legislative election, 2013 in the First constituency for French residents overseas .[35] According to Le Figaro He withdrew from the race after having negotiated to be candidate for the UMP at the European Parliament election due in May 2014.[36]

Controversies

French-language private school controversy

Whilst campaigning in Montreal, Balkany declared he wanted overseas French high schools known as 'Lycée Français' to limit the enrolment of the children of American celebrities so that French nationals could gain access to these exclusive institutions.[37][38] However, it should be noted that these private schools in North America are not under the direct authority of the French government, despite having accreditation with the Agency for French Teaching Abroad.[39]

References

  1. ↑ http://www.natachasteven.com
  2. ↑ 30 under 30 Trader Monthly Magazine, September 2008.
  3. ↑ Brennan, Emily (8 June 2012). "In New York, French Politics is Local". New York Times.
  4. ↑ Pétrole dans le Bassin parisien : la stratégie de Julien Balkany
  5. ↑ Kuitenbrouwer, Peter. "Canada to France: keep your election to yourself". National Post. Retrieved 16 March 2012.
  6. ↑ Natacha Steven Blog
  7. ↑ A Cure for the Bad-CEO Blues: Sue Your Shareholders 15 May 2008
  8. ↑ Times are tougher for Activists Euromoney, 4 March 2009
  9. ↑ , Business Wire, 21 December 2010
  10. ↑ http://issuu.com/julienbalkany/docs/bloomberg_news_-_nanes_balkany_starts_one-time_act
  11. ↑ Petrogrand Website
  12. ↑ French Activist investor says Petrogrand should exit Russia Reuters, 17 May 2013
  13. ↑ Nanes Balkany Partners announces support for Shelton Petroleum increased bid for Petrogrand 20 March 2014
  14. ↑ Gasfrac Website
  15. ↑ Gasfrac and Nanes Balkany Reach Agreement, April 29, 2014
  16. ↑ Nanes Balkany replace board of directors of Gasfrac Calgary Herald'', 29 April 2014
  17. ↑ Gasfrac Announces Appointments of New Board Wall Street Journal, 29 May 2014
  18. ↑ Step Energy Buys most of Gasfrac Assets Calgary Herald, 22 March 2015
  19. ↑ Gasfrac Board of Directors
  20. ↑ Gasfrac Announces Acquisition By Calfrac, 8 July 2015
  21. ↑ Panoro Website
  22. ↑ Activist Demands Changes at Panoro ValueWalk, 22 September 2014
  23. ↑ Nanes Balkany endorses Panoro new board of directors, 09 October 2014
  24. ↑ Activist fund builds up 5.1% stake in Toreador Financial Times, 5 December 2008
  25. ↑ Capital Markets Crusaders; Activist investors strike out, and Corporate America strikes back Investor Dealer’s Digest, 15 December 2008
  26. ↑ Toreador Resources Corporation today announced fourth quarter and full year 2010 financial results , 16 March 2008
  27. ↑ Noreco Website
  28. ↑
  29. ↑
  30. ↑ 30 under 30 Trader Monthly Magazine, September 2008.
  31. ↑ Institutional Investor Magazine, 21 June 2010.
  32. ↑ CNBC Squawk Box, the Energy Activist 11 February 2013.
  33. ↑ article JDD "Julien Balkany : "J'ai décidé d'être candidat aux législatives" en 2012", Le Journal du Dimanche, 12 November 2011
  34. ↑ Official results of the first round, French Ministry for Foreign Affairs
  35. ↑ article France-Amerique "Julien Balkany confirme qu’il ne se presentera pas" « France-Amerique », 23 April 2013
  36. ↑ le Figaro "Julien Balkany candidat UMP aux Europeennes", 5 March 2013
  37. ↑ A French politician has staked his election bid on a call to expel the child of famous names such as Madonna from the French lycee in New York. Telegraph.co.uk, 2 April 2012
  38. ↑ http://www.english.rfi.fr/americas/20120329-unacceptable-children-madonna-and-angelina-jolie-go-new-york-s-french-school
  39. ↑ http://www.aefe.fr/fiche-etablissement?num=273N09&etname=&continent=&pays=&ville= Agency for French Teaching Abroad

External links

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