EQT Issues Another Letter Bashing Rice Board Nominees
On Monday, Toby and Derek Rice (the Rice brothers) sent an open letter to EQT shareholders to “set the record straight on EQT’s misleading comments” about the Rice boys and their plan to take over EQT. In fact, the Rices’ say EQT has made “a number of false claims” and engaged in “personal attacks.” On Tuesday, EQT issued a response to “correct the Toby Rice Group’s false and misleading statements” about what EQT said, and to “highlight significant omissions and errors” in the Rice analysis of EQT’s recent performance (see Rice Brothers, EQT Accuse Each Other of “Misleading” Statements). Yesterday, EQT issued yet another letter to shareholders to talk up their own board nominees, and to bash the nominees put forward by the Rice brothers.
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The war to control EQT continues. On Monday, Toby and Derek Rice (the Rice brothers) sent an open letter to EQT shareholders to “set the record straight on EQT’s misleading comments” about the Rice boys and their plan to take over EQT. In fact, the Rices’ say EQT has made “a number of false claims” and engaged in “personal attacks.” Yesterday, EQT issued a response to “correct the Toby Rice Group’s false and misleading statements” about what EQT said, and to “highlight significant omissions and errors” in the Rice analysis of EQT’s recent performance.
A West Virginia Circuit Court case in September 2017, Crowder and Wentz v EQT, found in favor of surface landowners ruling that EQT did not have the right to extend underground shale wells to adjacent properties where EQT also owned the mineral rights (see 
Yesterday Toby and Derek Rice issued another (new) letter to EQT shareholders in the quest to make a case that the existing EQT board and management must be thrown out. A few hours later EQT responded with its own letter to shareholders. Here’s the latest in the proxy war to control EQT.
It’s hard enough for drillers to get permits town by town in Pennsylvania, where the standards are all different thanks to the seven selfish towns that appealed the Act 13 law passed in 2012 (see 
On Monday Toby and Derek Rice–the Rice brothers (formerly owners of Rice Energy that sold itself to EQT in 2017) sent an open letter to EQT shareholders and a “white” proxy card, asking shareholders to vote for the Rices’ picks as board members (see 
A few new developments to report in the war to control EQT. Late last week brothers Toby and Derek Rice, formerly of Rice Energy, announced they are trimming their slate of proposed EQT board members by two (from nine to seven). There was no explanation for why the two were dropped from consideration, other than the Rice boys said they had reviewed EQT’s proposal to add three new board members (replacing three existing board members), and that two of the three, in the Rices’ opinion, “appear qualified” to serve on the board and “as a result” Rice dropped two of its proposed slate of board members.
In the fight to control EQT, it appears like the momentum has just shifted in favor of EQT’s existing management. No more defense, EQT’s management team and board are now on offense. Yesterday the board and CEO Rob McNally released their list of proposed nominees to be voted on at the annual meeting in July. Three longtime members of the existing board including (surprisingly) board chairman Jim Rohr, will be out. Three new members have been named to replace them. Most important, in a bold move, EQT is adopting a “universal proxy card”–something advocated by Toby and Derek Rice in their attempt to replace the board. We explain this important development below…
The Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection (DEP) has just fined EQT $330,775 for erosion and sedimentation violations at two well sites in Forward Township, Allegheny County, PA. Water with sediment in it leaked from the well sites in early 2018, which sometimes happens. The reason for the stiff fine is that EQT failed to notify the DEP when it happened. If the DEP finds out via its own inspections first, the cost goes way up.
Fair or not, anything and everything that happens at EQT right now, which is under extreme pressure by the Rice brothers and several other large shareholders (see