Walsh facing revolt -- the lead business story in the August 2 1997 edition of The Toronto Star, Canada's largest circulation daily newspaper. You can find it on-line at thestar.com
Walsh facing revolt
Bre-X chief's hold on parent firm is challenged
By Dana Flavelle
Toronto Star Business Reporter
A group of shareholders in Bre-X Minerals Ltd.'s parent company is hoping to oust David Walsh as chairman and chief executive of Bresea Resources Ltd.
The group, calling itself the BSR Group of Shareholders, has 142 supporters across North America, who together hold 5 per cent of Bresea's outstanding shares.
If they can get that number up to 10 per cent, the group can force Bresea to call a special shareholders' meeting to decide whether to replace the current management, says the group's spokesperson Don Clarke.
Clarke, who's a school principal in a small town in Alberta, says Bresea would be worth a lot more to its shareholders under a different management group, he said.
Walsh did not return telephone calls yesterday to comment.
Bresea has $24 million in its treasury and four or five promising
exploration properties in Indonesia and Malaysia Clarke noted.
But its ability to develop those properties is hamstrung by its association with Bre-X Minerals, whose massive Indonesian gold find has been exposed as a fraud, sending its one high-flying shares tumbling to penny stock status before being delisted..
``The company has tens of millions of dollars in the treasury, we don't
have to go to the public to raise any funds to start drilling. We have
properties in Indonesia that hold a great deal of promise.'' Clarke said.
``But are the Indonesians going to allow Mr. Walsh and his associates to go back in there?''
Unlike Bre-X, which is facing multiple lawsuits from shareholders who lost money in the Busang fraud, Clarke said Bresea has been named in only one lawsuit, and the complainant has agreed in advance to drop the suit if the shareholders succeed in ousting the current management.
Clarke said the group started on the Internet.
``All our support so far was gathered over the Internet. We started out
looking for answers from management. But we weren't getting any,'' he said.
The group hopes to obtain from Bresea's transfer agent, Montreal Trust, a full list of its shareholders, so it can alert all shareholders to its plans.
Bresea has until Tuesday to object to the group's bid to see the list,
Clarke said.
Clarke said he's tried several times to meet with Bresea to discuss the
group's plans, but has been unsuccessful. |
