Cairn announced Executive Directors Dr Mike Watts and Jann Brown will not seek re-election at the AGM on 15 May 2014

Edinburgh, Scotland, 11-4-2014 — /EuropaWire/ — Cairn announces that as part of its long term succession planning, Dr Mike Watts, Deputy CEO, and Jann Brown, Managing Director and CFO will not seek re-election at the AGM on 15 May 2014 and will stand down as Executive Directors of the Company with effect from that date.

Dr Watts and Ms Brown have agreed, during their notice periods, to continue in senior roles and dedicate their time to seeking to resolve the tax position in India.

James Smith will take over the role of Finance Director and will join the Cairn Board as an Executive Director, with effect from the conclusion of the AGM.

Mr Smith joined Cairn recently from Rothschild where he was a Director in the Energy & Power team in London. He has 14 years’ experience in investment banking, advising oil and gas clients, including Cairn, on M&A transactions and equity and debt market finance. Mr Smith does not currently hold any Cairn shares and no further information in connection with his appointment is required to be disclosed pursuant to Listing Rule 9.6.13R.  Further details of the remuneration package payable to Mr Smith are included in the notes to this announcement.

Following these changes, Cairn will have two Executive Directors on its Board – Simon Thomson, Chief Executive and James Smith, Finance Director.  They will be supported by the Director of Exploration, Richard Heaton and Chief Operating Officer, Paul Mayland who have a combined experience at Cairn of more than 30 years.

Simon Thomson, Cairn CEO said:

“I would like to thank Mike and Jann, both for their instrumental contribution to the growth of Cairn over the years and for agreeing to remain in their new roles seeking a resolution of the Indian tax matter.

The changes announced today offer the best way of organising our business for the future – both in delivering our ongoing balanced growth strategy and in dealing with the situation in India.

I am delighted to announce James’ appointment as Finance Director.  James has been a trusted adviser to Cairn for many years, and I look forward to working together with him, the rest of the Board and the senior management team in delivering our strategic objectives.”

Enquiries:

Notes to editors

Remuneration:

• Mike Watts: Mike Watts’ base salary will be reduced by £75,000 to £400,600 during his notice period. It is currently intended that he will remain an employee of the Company until 31 December 2014 and will be paid salary and bonus up to that date.  All outstanding awards which he holds under the Company’s Long Term Incentive Plan will vest at the normal vesting date and will be pro-rated to 31 December 2014.
• Jann Brown: Jann Brown’s base salary will be reduced by £75,000 to £362,675 during her notice period. It is currently intended that she will work her one year notice period. In 2014, she will continue to participate in the Company’s annual bonus plan.  Her bonus for 2015 will be pro-rated to the date of cessation of employment.  All outstanding awards which she holds under the Company’s Long Term Incentive Plan will be treated on the same basis as Dr Watts.
• James Smith: Mr Smith’s remuneration will be consistent with the Company’s current incentive policy. He will receive an annual base salary of £350,000 and will participate in the annual bonus plan, with a maximum opportunity of 100% of base salary for 2014, pro-rated for the period of the year he has been employed by the Company. Mr Smith will also participate in the long-term incentive plan, and, as for other executive directors, has been granted an award for 2014 equal to 300% of base salary. As an Executive Director, Mr Smith will be required to build up and maintain a shareholding equal to a minimum of 100% of base salary, and until such a holding is achieved he will be required to retain as a minimum, shares with a value equal to 50% of the net of tax gain arising from any vesting or exercise under the Company’s long term incentive plans.  The Remuneration Committee has also agreed an award of up to £200,000 to compensate Mr Smith for part of the remuneration that would have been payable to him by Rothschild but for his resignation to join Cairn.   50% of this award is payable in cash following the commencement of his employment and the remainder as a conditional award over Cairn shares vesting after twelve months of continuous employment.

About Cairn
Cairn Energy PLC (”Cairn” or the “Group” or the “Company”) is one of Europe’s leading independent oil and gas exploration and development companies and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. Cairn has discovered and developed oil and gas reserves in a variety of locations around the world.

Cairn’s business operations are now focused on frontier exploration acreage in Morocco, Senegal, Republic of Ireland, Greenland, Mauritania and the Mediterranean along with exploration and pre-development interests in the North Sea. Cairn has its headquarters in Edinburgh, Scotland supported by operational offices in London, Greenland, Norway, Spain, Morocco and Senegal.

Cairn and Corporate Responsibility

• Cairn is a signatory to the UN Global Compact and our core values of respect, responsibility, relationships and our commitments towards people, the environment and society are enshrined in our Business Principles, which are available on the Cairn website at http://www.cairnenergy.com/index.asp?pageid=282
• Cairn became a participating company in the Extractive Industry Transparency Initiative (EITI) in September 2013. The EITI is a coalition of governments, companies and civil society, who have adopted a multi-stakeholder approach to applying the EITI global standard promoting transparency of payments in the oil, gas and mining sectors http://eiti.org/

For further information on Cairn please see: www.cairnenergy.com