Now my order had been filled, I can say how happy I am with the...

Now my order had been filled, I can say how happy I am with the announcement. Although its marked non-price sensitive, I personally think it is the most important announcement in around 6 months (I think most here know I take the GSA with a grain of salt).

As a long-term holder, I have seen corporate governance as the main problem for Icon. In many ways, Icon has continued to act like the penny dreadful it once was, as evidenced by:
- overpaid directors and management who constantly go back to the sharehold 'well' for more money.
- an old-boy club mentality in terms of board control.
- over-stating announcements to pump the price (see original MOU announcement).
- a apparently greater interest doing deals and acquiring tenements that focusing on reserve development (except when the technical work is done by others Santos, Stanwell etc.).

Obviously, on the plus side, RJ is a great acquirer of tenements and a wheeler and dealer. As a result, Icon are still sitting on some really high potential shale and CBM tenements.

I always thought if Icon had better corporate governance and tighter rein had been played on penny dreadful behaviour, market creditably and the share price would be a lot higher (e.g. +10cents).

With that said, the lastest announcement is exciting. We suddenly have a director sitting on the board who had $3 million of his own money in the company. As a result, his own interests will be tightly aligned with small shareholders. As a result, he will hopefully lobby for lower admin, lower upper management wages and, as a result, seek to minimise future dilutions.

He will control a fair chunk of shares in his own right, and will probably have a fair say on how the other Chinese shareholders vote (I assume he played a role in sarranging the new issue). There is also the BPT shareholding to be added in the future, which will mean more accountability I hope.

Finally, there is of course, the importance of having a well connected Chinese shareholder. Doing business in China is fraught with perils, and ozzie management will need all the help they can get to ensure they are not played.

Overall, very pleased with the announcement and warranted another purchase at 20 cents (especially as its good enough for the new director).

Having said all that, we still need some reserves.