Item 5.02 Departure of Directors or Certain Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of Certain Officers; Compensatory Arrangements of Certain Officers.
On April 26, 2024, Amber Bonney, the Chief Accounting Officer of Riley Exploration Permian, Inc. (the “Company”) informed the Company of her resignation to be effective June 1, 2024. Following the effective date of her resignation, Ms. Bonney is expected to become a consultant to the Company as of June 2, 2024.
The Company approved the appointment of Jeffrey M. Gutman as the Chief Accounting Officer on April 26, 2024 with an effective date of June 1, 2024. Mr. Gutman was previously the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Riley Exploration Permian, LLC (“REP”), now a subsidiary of the Company, from 2018 through 2020. Prior to joining REP, he was a Managing Consultant for NXT Advisory and CFO Services from 2017 to 2018, during which time he served as Managing Consultant and Interim Chief Financial Officer for H20 Midstream Partners. Mr. Gutman was the co-founder, Chief Financial Officer and member of the board of directors of Sabinal Energy, LLC from 2016 to 2017 and was the Chief Financial Officer of Jefferson Energy Companies from 2015 to 2016. Mr. Gutman holds a Bachelor of Business Administration – Accounting from Oklahoma State University.
In connection with the appointment of Mr. Gutman as the Chief Accounting Officer, the Company and Mr. Gutman expect to enter in an employment agreement with an initial term of two years, with automatic renewals thereafter. The employment agreement will set forth the material terms and conditions of his employment consistent with those of our other executive officers, including an annualized base salary of $360,000, target annual cash bonus opportunity of 50% of base salary, target annual equity award opportunity of 100% of base salary, standard employee benefit plan participation, severance and change in control benefits. Mr. Gutman will provide consulting services to the Company prior to the effective date of his appointment as Chief Accounting Officer for a monthly fee of $30,000. Additionally, Mr. Gutman’s employment agreement is expected to include certain restrictive covenants that generally prohibit him from (i) competing against the Company, (ii) disclosing information that is confidential to the Company and its subsidiaries and (iii) from soliciting or hiring the Company’s employees and those of its subsidiaries or soliciting the Company’s customers.
Additionally, on April 22, 2024, the Company announced that in order to better align executive officer’s titles with their roles, it is eliminating the positions of President and Executive Vice President – Business Intelligence. Bobby D. Riley, the Company’s Chief Executive Officer, President and Chairman of the Board will remain the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board. Corey Riley, formerly the Company’s Executive Vice President – Business Intelligence, became the Company’s Chief Information Officer and Chief Compliance Officer.