Shareholder calls to oust Northern Minerals boss

A foreign fund controlled by a Chinese businessman is planning to oust Northern Minerals founder and executive chair Nicholas Curtis and to inspect the company’s financials.

West Perth-based Northern Minerals advised the market today that it received a notice from Yuxiao Fund Pte Ltd at 9pm on Monday.

Led by Chinese businessman Wu Tao, Yuxiao Fund has a 9.81 per cent sharehold in the company and holds more than 50 per cent of votes to be cast at a Northern Minerals general meeting.

Yuxiao Fund has used its power under section 249D of the Corporations Act to call a general meeting to remove Mr Curtis as director.

The second proposed resolution for the general meeting was for Yuxiao Fund to inspect Northern Minerals’ books, and review Mr Curtis’ conduct.

The notice followed Yuxiao Fund’s recent request to nominate Mr Tao to the board, but Mr Curtis advised him to seek Foreign Investment Review Board approval, according to Northern Minerals’ statement.

In February, Federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers prohibited Yuxiao Fund from acquiring an additional 9.92 per cent interest in the company.

The intended acquisition would have increased Yuxiao Fund’s interest in Northern Minerals to 19.9 per cent.

The treasurer’s order also forbade Yuxiao Fund to increase the proportion of its interests in the company to more than 9.98 per cent.

Northern Minerals directors considered the matters to be referred to the Foreign Investment Review Board to ensure no breaches of the order or Australian law had occurred, according to the ASX statement.

“The Company outlined in the 30 October announcement that no views have yet been formed on whether any of the above matters do, in fact, give rise to any breaches of the Prohibition Order or of any Australian law,” Northern Minerals said in its statement.

“The Company maintains this view.”

Northern Minerals said it was considering whether the section 249D notice was valid.

“Under a valid request pursuant to s249D of the Corporations Act, the directors of the relevant company are required to call the meeting within 21 days after the request is given to the company and the meeting is to be held not later than 2 months after the request is given to the company,” the company said.