RE:RE:Town Hall Meeting on YouTube - Everyone should watch! Fission Uranium vote pits Canadian billionaire against investors
Yeh Long Day
Toronto – The Disassociated Press
The proposed all-stock takeover will give Lundin that stake without having to spend billions of dollars to buy it from other shareholders. But the deal has met unexpected opposition from FCU shareholders saying the terms of the deal undervalue their shareholdings.
The outcome of the vote will also influence overseas perceptions of Canada. The country has long faced criticism that billionaire tycoons exercise far too much power over companies that have become publicly traded. Those concerns about poor governance and weak shareholder rights have resulted in foreign investors marking down the value of all listed Canadian companies.
The deal has economic importance to the way Canada and Canadian corporate governance is perceived in the world. In the days leading up to the vote, Denison has hired a firm called Kingsdale to influence shareholders to vote for the takeover. It has also mobilized employees to visit sites such as Stockhouse (Taking It To The Street) to express support for the deal.
Dundee Securities has given a verbal opinion that the deal is fair to FCU shareholders.
The vote is a close contest.
About 80% of FCU shares are owned by retail investors and by mom-and-pop investors that have not publicly disclosed their position.
Lundin says the takeover is needed to improve the financial performance of Denison Mines, a long-time family holding. Analysts, investors and corporate governance experts all interpret the deal as an attempt to grab the best uranium discovery in years from the dull knife CEO running FCU.
If the deal is approved, the 57-year-old Lundin will become the biggest shareholder in the new entity and take control of $10-$20 billion worth of uranium.
Lundin has said he won’t make another offer for FCU if the deal fails, although some analysts believe he may try again at a later date.
It will cost Lundin billions if he can’t get this deal and have to use other means to secure management control.