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Kenj you are right.
However, previously the parties gave an indication go oust board in May. Which prompted the board to reach out to investors. This time they supported the board in May. Which shows acting in concert
"The difference here compared to 2017 is the concert part have a holding of 30% to 50% which is where takeover panel comes into action"
You are wrong there Aimtitan!
The concert party in 2017 had a combined declared holding of over 30% and nearer 35% if some other associated holdings were taken into account.
The Takeover Panel were alerted in 2017 but decided no action was necessary.
Millfield
Thank you for your recent considered and informative response. Fingers crossed for Monday - have a good weekend.
Exactly, it's classed as creeping control, which is what the London stock exchange takeover panel is there to prevent. This is a reason why most take over attempts like this fail on London domiciled companies.
And by implication this is an attempted hostile takeover. 2017 was a boardroom coup
The difference here compared to 2017 is the concert part have a holding of 30% to 50% which is where takeover panel comes into action
TLTL
We went through all this in 2017, when Renova (controlled by Viktor Vekselberg) tried the same ploy with the help of M&G and Sothic. Thanks to shareholder apathy, and a (very) few on here who thought that a new management team might be good for the share, the concert party won, only to be turfed out one year later after Vekselberg changed his mind and Renova sold out to Rakishev.
Rakishev engineered the restoration of the old team, and from then on the company SP rose >400%, until of course the voting at the latest AGM. However the episode was not only damaging to the SP, but caused disruption and much expense to the Company.
I for one would prefer no repeat of those events, and I certainly would trust Peter and Pavel to look after our interests. Russian oligarchs probably acquired their vast wealth by very dubious means, and with the help of some very unsavoury people. Russian business ethics and practices are somewhat different to ours, as a link I sent to M&G during the 2017 coup demonstrated. It reported one of the parties involved settling a shareholding dispute using local militia rather than lawyers. Cheaper, and much more effective I suppose.
Then let UGC announce something...eg our plans include delivering better value for shareholders...
workingstiff - Thanks for the post - why is UGCs silence telling? It is very easy to assume that the small investors are about to be shafted but is there really any reason to think that? Perhaps UGC will get control of the board and take POG in a direction that instead of seeking to buy other gold mines will become a large processor of refractory ore. Such an announcement might push the POG SP higher still on top of the existing potential. Perhaps Maxim Karim has seen enough of the BOD to realise things need to change if the potential is to be realised? Perhaps Pavel and the old board saw the writing on the wall for them and made a last ditch effort to save themselves. Again I ask where does the small investors best interest lie? It is not yet clear and that is all I know. Fear is a poison to the SP and I am not willing to stoke it. Give me facts and I will buy or sell.
Millfield
Thanks for the response but I see no benefit in your post. Please explain why you think 'the cartel' is a negative force .
TooLittleTooLate
"Having considered the facts the main fear here is short term uncertainty. As small shareholders that is always our situation. We fear being wiped out but is that realistic given the fundamentals?"
I can't speak for others but my fear is more specific than that. I fear that if UGC et al are able to take control of the board next week they might use resolution 19, which was passed at the AGM, to issue 1bn shares to themselves rather than the purpose for which I believe it was intended. This will come at a cost to them but in doing so they will have diluted the shares and will probably have taken effective control of the company.
It's unlikely that we'll be wiped out. We will get something for our shares, but we will be out of the game. UGC's silence is telling - people like to sound off when they think they are doing the right thing, but tend to keep quiet when they know they are up to no good.
I am often critical of the company's management and I tend to agree with you when you say "a strong and capable board would not I suggest have put themselves in the position they are now in" but sometimes the devil you know is the best option.
Piccadilly or Moscow - no difference? You sound like Wedgie Benn, the odious Labour creep who was the great apologist for the atrocities committed under the rule of saintly Uncle Joe Stalin.
We have been here before where a vested interest has seen the value of the company and formed a "concert party" to gain control in order to further their own agenda. The purpose is again to avoid paying a fair price by making a formal bid.
In my opinion the old board has done its best to protect the interest of all shareholders. I will not expect the same if the cartel succeeds in its aim.
Reviewing the recent history it seems there was much excitement at the beginning of June about a joint venture or merger between POG and UGC (who own over 22% of the POG shares). The discussion between the companies seemed to be a possibility and a genuinely exciting development. After press speculation POG said it was not engaged in any discussions. Maxim Karin CFO for UGC was welcomed to the POG board by Sir Roderic Lyne in April 2020.
POG and its POX processing abilities has rapidly become a strategic asset for any Russian Gold Miner with refractory ore now that the Gold Price has reached $1750. Given the long chequered history of POG why should I be supportive of the existing board when in fact it is the rising price of Gold that is floating all boats.
The level of panic amongst POG shareholders is understandable but where does our best interest lie? In my experience it is as easy to be shafted in Piccadilly as it is in Moscow.
I am a new investor simply wanting to turn a reasonable profit on the current low share valuation. Having considered the facts the main fear here is short term uncertainty. As small shareholders that is always our situation. We fear being wiped out but is that realistic given the fundamentals? A battle for control is ongoing - a strong and capable board would not I suggest have put themselves in the position they are now in.
I will not be supporting any vote at an EGM without factual argument which I have not yet been presented with by either POG or UGC.
An interesting situation though - good luck to all small shareholders