Intrepid shareholders approve settlement of Indonesian dispute
Wednesday, April 9 2014 - 09:56 AM WIB
ASX-listed Intrepid Mines Limited announced on Wednesday that shareholders have voted overwhelmingly in favor of the Intrepid Board?s recommended settlement of the Indonesian dispute. Formal completion of the transaction following this positive result is expected to occur on April 10, 2014, with the funds expected to be in the company?s account in the following days.
Managing Director Scott Lowe said ?We are very pleased that the shareholders have endorsed the board?s recommended commercial settlement of the Indonesian dispute. It is particularly encouraging that the vote for the resolution is the highest in the Company?s history. We now look forward to presenting shareholders with a choice regarding the deployment of the funds.?
The company advises that the resolution to approve the settlement was passed on a show of hands.
On Feb. 19, 2014,, the firm announced that had signed binding agreements to settle all disputes surrounding the ownership of the Tujuh Bukit copper/gold project in Indonesia, which will result in the company receiving US$80 million in cash.
The agreements, which Provident Capital and Saratoga Capital brokered on behalf of the parties with whom Intrepid has been in dispute, are binding and subject only to Intrepid shareholder approval being obtained at a general meeting expected to be held in early April 2014, the company said in a statement.
To effect the proposed settlement, two binding agreements and a range of ancillary documents have been signed.
A deed of settlement has been signed by all of the parties involved in the ownership dispute, including Intrepid?s former Indonesian partners, PT Indo Multi Niaga (IMN), Maya Ambarsari, Reza Nazaruddin and Paul Willis. Under this deed, all parties have agreed to settle the disputes between them, including those that are the subject of arbitration proceedings brought by Intrepid in Singapore and the dispute between the company and IndoAust Limited, IndoAust Pty Ltd and Paul Willis which is before the Indonesian courts.
Under the Master Settlement Deed, Emperor Mines Pty Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company, will exchange a $70 million promissory note issued by IMN in settlement of Emperor?s claims against IMN, Maya and Reza for a bond which is convertible into a 15 percent pre-IPO shareholding in PT Merdeka Serasi Jaya (MSJ), the current holding company for the companies holding the Tujuh Bukit mining tenements.
The convertible bond is exercisable upon the IPO of MSJ. However, the controlling shareholders of MSJ have advised Intrepid that neither the timing nor the jurisdiction of that listing have yet been finalized.
Emperor has also been granted the right to pay $37.5 million to acquire 7.5 percent of the shares in MSJ at the time of the proposed IPO. Settlement under the Master Settlement Deed will occur automatically following the passing by Intrepid shareholders of the ordinary resolution approving the transaction, referred to below.
Editing by Johannes Simbolon