Ukrainian billionaire Gennadiy Bogolyubov's Consolidated Minerals has launched a fresh bid to oust two directors of Mongolia-focused manganese hopeful OM Holdings, including its executive chairman.
ConsMin has called for a special general meeting of OM shareholders to decide whether to remove executive chairman Low Ngee Tong and director Tan Peng Chin, and replace them with independent directors Malcolm McComas and Peter Debnam.
ConsMin said in a statement today it believed an immediate board change was vital for the future of the company.
“It is the only way to address consistently poor governance and lack of transparency in the conduct of the board,” ConsMin's statement said.
ConsMin, which holds an 11.35 per cent stake in OM, said the poor leadership of the OM board of directors had led to a loss of nearly $130 million in shareholder value since March.
Mr Bogolyubov said the OM Holdings board had “flip-flopped” onm a number of major corporate decisions, including a proposed dual listing in Hong Kong, the proposed but as-yet-uncompleted acquisition of a 49.9 per cent stake in the Tshipi managanese project in Africa and the “inexplicable” acquisition of a 10 per cent stake in a Norway iron ore mine.
“These strategies have consistently failed to deliver growth,” Mr Bogolyubov said. “the proposed Hong Kong secondary listing brought about a sharp decline in OMH's share price, indicating the market has lost confidence in the board leadership.
“There is also a continuing issue with a lack of transparency by the board which has not been diligent in disclosing the ownership and control of shares in OMH and the identity of key stakeholders.”
The call for a special meeting follows ConsMin's announcement in April urging OM shareholders to reject the Hong Kong listing plans and flagged major changes to the OM Holdings board.
OM Holdings shares were down 1.96 per cent today, to finish trade at $1.00.