Local on line Paper in Phils - Interaksyonhttps://www.interaksyon.com/article/34362/cocktales-p-noy-uncle-cuts-deal-leaves-ping-de-jesus-in-king-king-fight
.Noy uncle Ernesto Teopaco has cut a deal with their group's local and Canadian partners in the faction-ridden King-king mining claim, leaving former Transportation Secretary Jose "Ping" de Jesus and his friend Nadecor chairman Jose Ricafort to face a string of fresh lawsuits in their decision to rescind a mining agreement with Toronto-listed St. Augustine Gold and Copper over King-king mine.
Lawyer Nilo Divina confirmed that minority shareholders have dropped Teopaco, who is married to Cory Aquino's youngest sister Maria Paz, from the impending litigation against Teopaco's partners led by Ricafort and De Jesus, Nadecor president.
"We are no longer suing Teopaco because he already agreed to sign the transfer documents to our clients," Divina said, adding that his clients include former Nadecor chairman Conrado Calalang and other minority shareholders.
Divina declined to elaborate ahead of the June 13 meeting of the asset-rich Nationwide Development Corp., which is asking shareholders to ratify the Ricafort-De Jesus decision to jettison a joint-venture deal with St. Augustine for the development of one of the largest undeveloped copper-gold deposits in the world, located just 35 kilometers east of Davao City.
Calalang, on the other hand, is allied with St. Augustine and so does, strangely, a son of Ricafort, Raymond, the entrepreneur behind Netopia, the Internet cafe chain.
Raymond declined to be interviewed, other than confirming that Calalang and him had been ousted earlier this year from the Nadecor management by the group led by the elder Ricafort, apparently over unresolved financial issues with St. Augustine.
According to the pro-Ricafort grapevine, the elder Ricafort-Teopaco group controlled about 53 percent of Nadecor, with the balance of 47 percent belonging to Calalang and other minority shareholders.
What further complicated the boardroom politics is last week's announcement that the Ricafort-Teopaco group had allowed a company controlled by Senator Manuel Villar Jr. to acquire 25 percent of the company.
With the Villar entry, the Calalang group's shareholdings have been reduced to about 34.5 percent, giving the Teopaco-Ricafort group and new partner Villar undisputed super-majority grip on Nadecor.
According to the pro-St. Augustine grapevine, St. Augustine has already made plans to bring Nadecor to litigation in Singapore in view of the announcement by Nadecor terminating their mineral production sharing agreement.
St. Augustine's counsels include the Sycip Salazar and the Marcos Ochoa Serapio &Tan law offices.
The Teopaco-Ricafort group, on the other hand, is being represented by Accra.