17th June 2009
Updated 23 minutes ago
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TORONTO (miningweekly.com) – Shareholders in Vancouver-based miner Rockwell Diamonds have voted down a proposal by Pala Investments Holdings to remove the board of directors.
Of the votes cast, 57% were against removing the current directors. Pala itself owns just under 20% of the company.
Pala wanted to oust CEO John Bristow, chairperson David Copeland and a third executive director, Mark Bristow, in a proxy fight that came to a head at a special meeting of shareholders in Vancouver on Wednesday.
Shareholders also opposed a proposal by Pala that Rockwell's shareholder rights plan be scrapped.
During the run-up to the vote, Pala said that Rockwell faced a “lack of leadership”, while the executive directors accused the company of attempting a “cashless takeover”.
While both sides had agreed the company needed to conduct a rights issue to raise funds, the executive directors lined up a third party, Haywood Securities, to take up any shares not subscribed for, while Pala had wanted to fulfill this role itself, which - without the shareholder rights plan in place - could have increased its holding in Rockwell.
Last year, Pala launched and then withdrew a hostile takeover offer for Rockwell, which mines high-value diamonds from alluvial operations in South Africa. |
