Compton angel revealed



Debt-heavy Compton Petroleum dug itself out of a financial hole back in September with an innovative piece of financing that saw the company pull in $102-million by selling a royalty on future oil and gas production.


This sort of financing is relatively common in mining - Franco-Nevada is one massive collection of royalties on holes in the ground - but new to the oil patch. Compton and its advisers at Scotia Capital got kudos for doing this deal, but what no one knew was just who was on the other side of the transaction. Compton chose not to reveal who purchased a 5 per cent interest in its future production.


Well, what was an open secret in Calgary circles is now public.


Step back into the spotlight, Jim Kinnear.


When last seen in early September, he was leaving the CEO job at Pengrowth Energy Trust, departing from a company he co-founded in 1988 and built into one of the largest players in its field. Pengrowth currently sports a $2.9-billion market capitalization.


Now Mr. Kinnear is back with a three-person private company called Kinnear Financial, which is in turn affiliated with a private energy financing concern called Caledonian Royalty Corp. It was Caledonian on the other side of the royalty deal that helped rebuild Compton's balance sheet.

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