JOHANNESBURG (miningweekly.com) – Dual-listed Resource Generation (Resgen) has approached the Australian government’s Takeovers Panel for orders to prevent its three largest shareholders Altius Investments Holdings, Noble Group and the Public Investment Corporation (PIC) from voting at a shareholder meeting requisitioned by Altius.
This comes as Altius, parent company of Resgen shareholder Shinto Torii, last week refused to withdraw its 249D request for a shareholder meeting to consider the removal of current directors and the appointment of new directors.
Altius had argued that the current directors had failed to obtain the required funding to progress the Boikarabelo mine development, in Limpopo.
Resgen had, however, announced soon after that it had signed a memorandum of agreement with Swiss private company HAB & JBR Privée for a $480-million financing package.
It called on Altius to withdraw its 249D request, saying the removal of the current directors could jeopardise the funding deal with HAB & JBR Privée.
No reasons were provided for Altius’s decision not to withdraw its request for a shareholder meeting.
Meanwhile, Resgen had, on October 1, claimed that Altius, Shinto Torii, Noble and the PIC had used illegal collective action to try to replace Resgen’s directors with its own nominees, after the coal miner had dismissed Noble’s request, on September 18, that additional directors be appointed to Resgen’s board and to the board of Resgen’s black economic-empowerment subsidiary Ledjadja Coal.
Resgen, which had also written to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission regarding the matter, said it had disclosed confidential material information to Altius, Noble Group and the PIC during financing negotiations with Noble subsidiary Noble Resources International on the condition that the information was confidential and was only to be used in connection with the funding negotiations. It believed this information may have been used for purposes other than set out in the confidentiality agreement.
Resgen had now submitted an application to the Takeovers Panel seeking a declaration of unacceptable circumstances in relation to the affairs of the company, saying that this related to the association between Altius, Noble Group and the PIC.