Pulsar Helium (TSX.V: PLSR, FSE: Y3K, WKN: A3EP2C) has expanded its executive team with the addition of Stephen Lange Ranzini, a prominent and proven financial expert with excellent knowledge of capital markets. Stephen Ranzini is particularly well-versed in U.S. financial markets due to his many years of service as CEO of University Bancorp.
At Pulsar, Stephen will serve as Vice Chairman of the Board and will also participate in certain executive committee subcommittees, yet to be determined. The appointment took effect on March 16, 2026. As a banking executive, he also possesses an excellent network that extends to the U.S. Federal Reserve, as the Fed previously appointed him to its Secure Payments Steering Committee.
Stephen, who has served as CEO of University Bancorp and the subsidiary University Bank in Ann Arbor, Michigan, since 1988, has also played a leading role within the Federal Reserve Bank’s Remittance Coalition. Under his leadership, the institution has evolved from a local bank with a single branch into a diversified financial services firm. The bank currently manages total assets of $36 billion for more than 185,000 customers.
The Long-Standing Collaboration with Pulsar Helium Is Being Deepened and Expanded
Stephen is already familiar with Pulsar, as University Bancorp holds approximately 4.99 percent of all outstanding Pulsar shares and has granted the company a credit line of $4 million.
University Bancorp has already expressed its intention to further its business relationship with Pulsar by providing a loan of up to $12.5 million for the further development of the Topaz Helium Project. The funds are to be used to finance the construction and operation of a helium processing plant.
The war in the Gulf underscores Pulsar Helium’s strategic importance
The current conflict in the Gulf, particularly the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz, highlights the strategic importance of Pulsar’s Helium’s position. The strait is not only used to transport around 20 percent of the world’s crude oil, but it also represents a critical bottleneck for helium supply with the Emirate of Qatar accounting for roughly one-third of global helium production.
As a result of Iran’s blockade, this helium cannot currently be exported, bringing the vulnerability of global helium supply chains into sharp focus across the industry. In this context, access to helium resources that are not exposed to such geopolitical disruptions is increasingly aligned with the national interest of the United States.
Stephen Lang Ranzini therefore believes that “assisting Pulsar to complete the exploration program at its Topaz Project to quantify the size of the discovery and preparations for potential development of the Topaz Project into production as quickly as possible is now a national economic and national security imperative”. As a highly qualified financial expert, he possesses the necessary expertise and, now as a board member, also the position to accelerate and advance this work.
For the other shareholders of Pulsar, this is good news in two respects: not only does the head of one of the largest lenders sit on the board, but he is also driven by the intention to bring the Topaz Project into production as quickly as possible.
