RE: Cornerstone13 Dec 2022 23:39
With a track record like that, Sangha feels very comfortable with how the unofficial factional lines are being drawn at SolGold after a turbulent six months.
While there is no suggestion of collusion, BHP, Newcrest and the funds management giants BlackRock and Norges Bank are perceived by most observers to vote the same way on most matters at SolGold. Collectively, those four owned about 36.5 per cent of SolGold shares before the merger with Cornerstone.
The perception those four are unofficially aligned is based on their similar public commentary, accounts provided by insiders, and the proportion of shares voted against known enemies of BHP and Newcrest at SolGold annual meetings.
The former SolGold chief executive Nick Mather is one of those enemies; more than 44 per cent of SolGold’s register tried to kick him off the board in December 2020, suggesting the big corporate faction was within a whisker of collectively controlling the company at that time.
Mather owns almost 4 per cent of SolGold directly, but has close links to other companies that also rank in SolGold’s top eight shareholder list, including ASX-listed DGR Global.
Mather is widely perceived to be joined on the small side of SolGold’s factional fence by those other companies, Sangha and a few of the other originals who were SolGold shareholders before BHP and Newcrest showed up.
Together, they form an unofficial coalition of convenience, desperate to prevent the big miners from collectively controlling more than 50 per cent of SolGold and diluting their shareholdings into oblivion.
“No one would be happier than me if we end up with a great outcome for shareholders and BHP and Newcrest end up with zero stake in Cascabel,” said Sangha. “It’s all about taking these big companies down and embarrassing them.”
cont'd