Shareholders okay Bre-X's stock split plan<\/p>\n
CALGARY, Canada (Reuter): Shareholders of high-flying Bre-X
\nMinerals Ltd, packed into a crowded special meeting, approved on
\nFriday a much anticipated 10-for-one stock split.<\/p>\n
The split will take effect on May 24. Shares in Bre-X, which
\nowns 90 percent of the rich Busang gold strike in Indonesia, were
\ntrading at 201.75 in Toronto after rising from 3.95 on the
\nAlberta Stock Exchange one year ago.<\/p>\n
Shareholders also approved a spin-off of non-Busang properties
\ninto a new company. Shares in the new company will be offered to
\nBre-X shareholders on a one-for-one basis before the split.<\/p>\n
Bre-X chief executive David Walsh told reporters before the
\nannual meeting that the company's expected Nasdaq listing is in
\nthe hands of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and
\nshould be effective very soon.<\/p>\n
Bre-X shareholders also approved a shareholder rights plan to
\ngive the company's directors 90 days to consider a hostile
\ntakeover bid.<\/p>\n
Walsh, who is a major shareholder of Bre-X as well as Bresea
\nResources Inc, which owns 23 percent of Bre-X, is exempt from the
\npoison pill because he held more than 10 percent of the stock
\nbefore Jan. 31.<\/p>\n
Shareholders of Bresea, which is 11 percent owned by Bre-X and
\nalso headed by Walsh, passed a similar shareholder rights plan at
\na meeting on Friday.<\/p>\n
\"Bresea owns Bre-X and Bre-X owns Bresea and with what I own,
\nthose are three friendly entities. I shouldn't be prohibited from
\nbuying more of my own stock without triggering the shareholder
\nrights plan,\" he said.<\/p>\n
But Walsh told reporters that he does not feel the rights
\nplans will ever be used.<\/p>\n
Friendly<\/p>\n
\"If there was to be a takeover, which we don't want, it would
\nhave to be friendly because they'd be up against the wall with
\nthat 23 percent alone,\" he said. \"And we could round up -- and
\nwe've tested the waters -- very quickly 45 percent of the shares
\noutstanding.\"<\/p>\n
Bre-X in April also enlisted former Lac Minerals and Goldcorp
\nexecutive Rolando Francisco as chief financial officer to help
\nthe company grow into a major international mining force, he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Walsh's statements counter speculation in the worldwide mining
\nindustry that Bre-X could be courted by a handful of
\ninternational firms with deep pockets.<\/p>\n
Still, the company is on track to bring in a partner before
\nthe end of this year, which would take up to 25 percent of Busang
\nand help bring the project to the production stage, Walsh said.<\/p>\n
He said a financial adviser for the transaction is likely to
\nbe selected within the next two weeks, which will kick off the
\nprocess.<\/p>\n
A deal would include a partner paying a cash component for the
\nstake as well as the estimated US$750 million in capital
\nnecessary for building a plant for Busang production.<\/p>\n
He declined to give his expectations for the value Bre-X would
\nlike to see for such a stake.<\/p>\n
Walsh, who recently moved his residence to Nassau, Bahamas
\nfrom Calgary, repeated that he did not disagree with an
\nIndonesian government estimate that pegged Busang's gold reserves
\nat 40 million ounces.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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