LONDON – The bitter battle for gold mines in Russia’s far east is set to take another twist as rebel investors try to sack the leadership of Petropavlovsk.
Shareholders will vote on Friday at a meeting in a nondescript office block between St Paul’s Cathedral and the Bank of England in London. While the building lacks color, the combatants do not, with a Kazakh cryptocurrency tycoon and a banking heir pitted against hedge funds such as DE Shaw and the chairman of Chelsea Football Club.
The two sides have been at loggerheads since early May when two mystery shareholders, holding 9.1% of Petropavlovsk, said they wanted to replace the entire board. They were quickly supported by Kazakh Kenes Rakishev, who controls a 22% stake, and company co-founder Peter Hambro. They’re voting to sack the board and bring back former CEO Pavel Maslovskiy and directors Roderic Lyne and Robert Jenkins.
The current board, supported by shareholders including Sothic Capital Management, has branded the challenge a stealth takeover, while bemoaning the lack of information disclosed by the mystery investors, CABS Platform and Slevin. Petropavlovsk says the rebels are seeking to reinstate board members who oversaw the company’s decline from a $3-billion contender for the FTSE 100 Index a decade ago to a penny stock.
Petropavlovsk has cut gold output to focus on more profitable ounces, and in 2017 reported the highest net income in five years. The company, started by Maslovskiy and banking heir Hambro, is also building a new plant that could allow more complicated ores to be processed.
The new project has sparked interest in recent weeks from rival Russian miner Polymetal International, after Petropavlovsk hired Lazard to advise on its strategic options. The company said it rejected a non-binding offer for the pressure oxidation facility.
This time last year, shareholders forced Hambro and other directors out, while Maslovskiy resigned soon after. That coup was led by Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg. He has since sold his stake to Rakishev, while M&G Investment Management, which also supported the ouster, has also divested.
The latest skirmish has turned ugly at times, with accusations, counterclaims and rebuttals. The incumbents blame their predecessors for bringing Petropavlovsk to its knees, while the old management say their replacements are squandering the healthier position they inherited.
“There will only be losers on Friday,” said Ian Ashby, chairman of Petropavlovsk. “The way this has all happened is not good for the UK investment community and I don’t think it’s good for shareholders.”