Pipestone Announces That ISS Reaffirms Recommendation That Shareholders Vote “FOR” Proposed Combination With Strathcona to Create a Leading Canadian Energy Producer; ISS Says Dissident’s Arguments “Do Not Appear Well Supported”

• Pipestone encourages all shareholders to vote FOR the Arrangement today to ensure their votes are counted; the proxy voting deadline is 10:00 a.m. (Calgary time) on Monday, September 25, 2023
• Have questions or need help voting? Call Kingsdale Advisors on 1-888-659-1824 (toll free in North America), email [e-mail], or visit www.pipestonestrathcona.com

CALGARY, Alberta, Sept. 20, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- (PIPE – TSX) Pipestone Energy Corp. (“Pipestone” or the “Company”) today announced that leading proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) has reviewed the arguments of GMT Capital Corp. (“GMT”) in its dissident proxy circular dated September 15, 2023 and reaffirmed its recommendation that shareholders vote FOR the proposed arrangement (the “Arrangement”) with Strathcona Resources Ltd. (“Strathcona”) that would see Pipestone and Strathcona combine to become one of Canada’s largest energy producers.

“Upon review, the dissident arguments do not appear well supported and there is no clear indication as to whether a rejection of the deal would enhance shareholder value or lead to an enduring improvement in PIPE's share price. As such, ISS continues to recommend shareholders vote FOR the transaction,” ISS said.

Shareholders of Pipestone (“Shareholders”) should not be distracted by GMT’s flawed and misleading arguments.

As Pipestone has outlined in detail, the dissident circular of US-based GMT is rife with flawed assumptions and misleading arguments against this value-creating transaction. Click here to read Pipestone’s news release dated September 17, 2023 and click here to access the accompanying investor presentation, each of which provide in-depth rebuttals to GMT’s arguments.

There is nothing new in GMT’s speculative arguments in its dissident proxy circular, which focuses on short-term, cherry-picked data, nor does GMT have a value-enhancing plan for the standalone Company.

GMT’s argument can be summarized as nothing more than “kill the deal and hope for the best.” But hope is not a strategy the board of directors of Pipestone (the “Board”) and Pipestone can support. Neither should Shareholders.

By contrast, Pipestone believes that the Arrangement offers numerous advantages for Shareholders. The all-share consideration will enable Shareholders to fully participate in the upside of a much larger and more diversified producer that is expected to benefit from scale at 185,000 boe/d; a well-positioned reserves base and much longer life at over 38 years; better access and lower cost to capital; extending our tax shelter by over two years; and a potential positive re-rating by markets.