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Gold/Mining/Energy : TITANIUM CORPORATION INC.- The Next Major Mining Play -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Winzer who wrote (92)	10/6/1999 11:35:00 AM
From: Buckey	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 343

Radio is saying that a new companyw anted to see the books for Sysco and they were not allowed - The radio guy then surmised that the speculation is that abuyer has been found but the dela is not inked - This coiuld be helping NRL today.

To: Winzer who wrote (92)	10/6/1999 1:18:00 PM
From: chevalier	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 343

This is an interesting article that I just read in the Halifax Chronicle Herald: Sysco suitor claims denied look at books By Tera Camus / Cape Breton Bureau Sydney - A company that wants to buy Sydney Steel says the investment bank hired to sell the plant has slammed the door in the Vancouver-based firm's face. Roger Langille of Nicklan Resources Canada Ltd. says ABN Amro of Chicago has denied his company access to the provincial Crown corporation's books, which it needs in order to make a viable bid for the assets. "They don't want me to make an offer. That's the whole point," Mr. Langille said in a telephone interview. "They don't want to talk." Mr. Langille wants to make an offer on Sysco's plant as well as on assets of Devco, the federally owned coal company that's being privatized. But he says that every time he's asked for information on Sysco, the request has been refused or not acknowledged. He thinks the reason is because the steel plant has been sold. "There's a deal made here already," Mr. Langille said. "This is what (our) financial auditor has been saying. He used to run a couple of commercial banks in the United States and he was in the exact same position as ABN Amro is in right now. It does not add up. The only reason that he can see that these people would not want someone to make an offer on it is they already have it sold." ABN Amro (Amalgamated Bank of the Netherlands-Amsterdam-Rotterdam) of Chicago is handling the sale of Sysco for Hoogovens, a company the province hired last summer to manage the plant and sell it by this December. Representatives of ABN Amro could not be reached for comment Tuesday. Hoogovens spokesman Ian Thompson told a Sydney Rotary Club luncheon Tuesday that details of any sale would be kept hidden until the likelihood the sale will go through is high. "The managers of this process have full confidence that a buyer will be identified by year-end," he said. "Interested strategic parties are currently reviewing information on Sysco. The nature of the process and the interests of potential buyers dictate that information is held confidential. "We must all wait, patiently though anxiously, for the outcome to be made known." Hoogovens receives about $700,000 a month from the province to run the plant. Economic Development Minister Gordon Balser, minister responsible for Sysco, said ABN Amro is involved to keep politics out of the process. "I've had no conversations with Mr. Langille, nor would I, because it undermines the mandate of ABN Amro," Mr. Balser said. Mr. Balser's hands-off approach is unacceptable, says Mr. Langille. "This man was hired by the people of Nova Scotia to do his job. Why is he not getting involved?" Mr. Langille said. In the meantime, Mr. Langille said, markets for coal and steel could easily be tapped to turn around both industries. He says he has investors willing to put up the cash. "There's an opportunity here to make a very successful industry. . . . The opportunity exists to have a plant several times the size of what you have now," he said. Mr. Balser said Sysco has drawn about $1 million from a $44-million line of credit approved by the former Liberal government. The Tories promised no more taxpayers' money would be spent on the steel plant, but the minister said the $1 million didn't count because the Liberals made it available.