Ocean Power Technologies, Inc. has announced that it has terminated Charles F. Dunleavy as Chief Executive Officer and as an employee of the Company, effective June 9, 2014. Dunleavy has also been removed from his position as Chairman of the Board of Directors.
David L. Keller, who has served as a Non-Executive Director of the Company since October 2013, has assumed the position of Interim Chief Executive Officer, effective June 9, 2014, and will continue in this position while the Company searches for a permanent replacement.
Keller previously served as an independent director of ThermoEnergy, Inc. from April 2013 to May 2014 and as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director of Global Power Equipment Group Inc. from September 2009 until June 2012. Earlier in his career, Keller served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Babcock & Wilcox Company, a wholly owned subsidiary of McDermott International, Inc., from March 2001 until his retirement in June 2007.
The Company also announced that the Board of Directors has appointed a Special Committee, composed of outside directors and the Interim Chief Executive Officer, to conduct an internal investigation into the agreement between Victorian Wave Partners Pty Ltd, a project-specific operating entity wholly-owned by the Company’s subsidiary Ocean Power Technologies (Australia) Pty Ltd, and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, and related public statements concerning that project. The Special Committee will retain outside counsel to assist in this investigation.
The Company does not believe any issues the Special Committee will investigate will affect its previously filed financial statements. The Company does not anticipate restating any of its financial statements, and the Company anticipates it will file its upcoming annual report on time.