Another roadblock in the Capricorn-NewMed tie-up: One of Capricorn Energy biggest shareholders, Palliser Capital, is calling for a general meeting to vote on removing seven of the company’s directors — including CEO Simon Thompson and CFO James Smith, Reuters reports. Palliser is the company’s third-largest shareholder and is one of a number of investors in the energy company that have voiced their opposition to a potential merger with Israel’s NewMed energy.

Refresher: NewMed had proposed an all-share merger with Capricorn in October after shareholders including Palliser blocked a previous merger plan with Tullow Oil on grounds that it undervalued the company. The latest proposal would give NewMed control of Capricorn’s assets in Egypt, paving the way for closer energy ties between Israel and Egypt and creating what the companies described as a “MENA gas and energy champion.”

What’s the beef? Shareholders accounting for more than 40% of the company’s ownership are opposing the planned merger on the basis that it undervalues Capricorn and that it is “unnecessarily biased towards NewMed.” Palliser also said it had assurances from another 28% of shareholders who had "lost trust in the current board,” the newswire says.

Palliser has candidates in mind: Palliser’s six candidates for directors include Hesham Mekawi, the former North Africa regional president at BP, and Christopher Cox, the former CEO of Spirit Energy. It wants to convene a shareholder meeting by 30 January for a vote on its plan.

NewMed was hopeful the merger will go through sometime in 1Q 2023, ​​NewMed CEO Yossi Abu recently said, downplaying shareholders’ objections and saying he expects both companies’ shareholders to ultimately approve the merger.