Tulsa World: Catsimatidis may have played role in SemGroup revival

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Catsimatidis may have played role in SemGroup revival

By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer
Published: 7/26/2009 3:52 AM
Last Modified: 7/26/2009 4:25 AM

Goodbye Cat Man, we hardly knew ye.

Actually, we got to know John Catsimatidis pretty well in the eight months since he joined the SemGroup fray. I know very little about events east of the Hudson, so Mr. Catsimatidis was a breath of fresh air when he first came to Tulsa and made predictions about reorganizing the bankrupt Tulsa midstream energy company and saving jobs.

First things first

I've been asked several times to write a SemGroup column by my editor, but refused because my coverage must stay completely down the middle, no room for color and impressions of events.

And I never took sides in the fight between Catsimatidis and SemGroup CEO Terry Ronan. I met both men and found both to be very cordial interviews.

The Yankees-Red Sox thing

The battle put a definite East Coast spin on this mid-continent bankruptcy story playing out in Delaware federal court. It's oversimplification, of course, but Catsimatidis was the brash New Yorker, Ronan the tight-lipped, tough Boston customer.

One thing I'll say about Catsimatidis' impact on SemGroup was that things changed all around. He was like a one-man global warming that knocked the iceberg of executive feedback loose.

Weeks after his flurry of comments and press interviews, other SemGroup officials finally started talking. We news folks like that sort of thing, as you might guess.

From selloff to starting over

And I won't theorize that Catsimatidis' interest changed SemGroup executives' minds about the future,

but something shifted course in the court filings and company memos. Early on, court documents and comments indicated that the Company's Chapter 11 looked more like a Chapter 7, as a selloff of assets was planned to pay creditors.

Once the Cat Man got involved, SemGroup execs started dribbling out hints that a reorganization was in the works. Ronan's e-mail earlier this year gave employees some details, and the overall plan was finally released in May.

Now I know my good friends who handle SemGroup public relations might take issue with this, and I won't belabor the point. They've done a fantastic job in helping me. I just know that the Chapter 11 took shape after the New Yorker swooped into Tulsa.

Last words

Now that Catsimatidis is out of the picture, it's this reporter's wish to say thanks. I know that he had hired at least two public relations firms to handle information and even set up a Web site about the reorganization, but so what? I found I could simply e-mail him and he would respond, regardless of whatever billion-dollar project he was doing.

He answered quickly, thoroughly and kindly. We've all heard a lot about Big Apple brusqueness, yet Catsimatidis was both direct and cordial.

One of our Web site commenters put it warmly and appropriately at the bottom of the story detail Catsimatidis' exit. "Vaya con dios, Juan," Popeye wrote, although just once I'd love to see one of those commenters use their real name.

That was never a problem with John Catsimatidis. He was what he was and you got what you got, although we never really got his own reorganization plan.

That's OK. Hopefully SemGroup will emerge later this year as a better, healthier and more open company. And maybe, just maybe, Catsimatidis played a role there. By ROD WALTON World Staff Writer

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bent, (7/27/2009 8:54:13 AM)

It is too bad that it has taken soooooo long to get us reorganized. We have sat around and watched as value has eroded from this company. I personally give the company 6-12 months before it is realized that we were damaged beyond repair by the blood-sucking consultants and attorneys that receive a better bonus if we are reorganized, at any cost, rather than selling the pieces when they could have turned a profit and let the employees and business units move on with their lives instead of sitting around here and teaching a bunch of morons from New York our business and best practices.

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don't be fooled, (7/26/2009 2:06:08 PM)

Mr. Walton,
You have done a very good job reporting the SemGroup debaucle. You seemed to strive to get the facts correct. It's too bad that you cannot report on the characters of Foxx, Wallace and Kivisto. It's a shame that they will not be held accountable for the pillaging of what could have been (and may still be) a viable productive company. They say that what they did was no different than what other corporate executives have done. It's too bad that they will not be punished. In these United States, the rich get richer and become untouchable. The TW or any other public forum can't even report honestly of the character of these three men for fear of retribution. They were/are horrible evil men who deserve nothing less than to be behind bars.

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