Cape Lambert Iron Ore Ltd will seek legal advice after it received a requisition notice from new major shareholder Power United Ltd, which has proposed to oust several directors including executive chairman Tony Sage.
The iron ore company today advised shareholders to take no action with respect to the notice until it had obtained legal advice on the validity of the notice.
Power United, headed by Mick Shemesian, holds an 11.49 per cent interest in Cape Lambert.
In an announcement, Power said it had become "very concerned" by Cape Lambert's announcement earlier this month to take a 30 per cent stake in the Marampa iron ore project in Sierre Leone for $53 million in cash and scrip and plans to issue 44 million shares.
Power said it was concerned the investment was taking place so soon after the $400 million sale of the Cape Lambert iron ore project to Chinese company MCC Mining.
The shareholder has called for a meeting on October 15 at the Perth Sheraton Hotel, and has called for the removal of Mr Sage and directors Timothy Turner and Brian Maher.
Power has nominated Melbourne share trading identity Leo Khouri, Blair Sergeant, Tony Roberts and Lavan Legal'sMartin Bennet for positions on the board.
"The shareholder [Power] has lost faith in the board and believes the board has ulterior motives regarding the Marampa transaction which have not been disclosed to shareholders," Power said.
The company added that not enough time has been set aside to carry out due diligence on the Sierra Leone project, with settlement of the acquisition expected to occur at the end of the month.
"The concern is borne out by the fact that an English company, London Mining plc, has filed a writ in Sierra Leone against the owner of the Marampa project disputing ownership of a significant area of the Marampa project," Power said.
The project is owned by African Minerals Ltd.
Power also acknowledged that fellow major shareholder Russia's Evraz Group S.A., which holds a 19 per cent stake, may have a key say in the composition of the board.
