Obviously, G&M guys are shorts? TRE response:TORONTO, June 20, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -Sino-Forest Corporation (TSX:TRE.to - News) ("Sino-Forest" or the "Company"), aleading commercial forest plantation operator in China, today made thefollowing statement in response to the incorrect portrayal of itsbusiness provided by The Globe and Mail in an article published onSaturday, June 18th.
At the heart of The Globe and Mail's article is the assertion that thereis a discrepancy between the Company's public disclosure regarding its2007 Master Agreement with Gengma Dai and Wa Tribes Autonomous CountyForestry Limited ("Gengma Dai and Wa") for the purchase of plantationsin the province of Yunnan (the "Master Agreement" - filed in thedataroom on the Company's website), acquisitions made under it, and thedescription of the Master Agreement and related acquisitions that wasapparently provided by Gengma Dai and Wa to The Globe and Mail. Thereis no discrepancy.
The Chairman of Gengma Dai and Wa, Mr. Xie Hongting, was introduced bySino-Forest to The Globe and Mail in an open attempt to address some ofits many questions. After the interview with Mr. Xie, the Company hadits own background interview with The Globe and Mail, during which itbecame clear there were some factual misunderstandings regarding theCompany's ownership of trees in Yunnan. The Company informed The Globeand Mail that Mr. Xie would clarify the relationship between bothparties. However, The Globe and Mail chose not to wait for Gengma Daiand Wa's complete description of its relationship with Sino-Forest.
The Company has provided the following status update with respect to itsYunnan tree ownership resulting from the Master Agreement entered intowith Gengma Dai and Wa in 2007:
- Sino-Forest entered into the first Yunnan Master Agreement in 2007 (filed in the dataroom on the Company's website). The Master Agreement had a target to acquire 'approximately' 200,000 hectares (3 million mu - mu being the common Chinese unit of land measurement that is equivalent to 1/15th of a hectare) of standing timber. The Master Agreement does not specify a maximum amount of standing timber to be acquired under the Agreement (the phrase "up to" in The Globe and Mail article is inaccurate and not a reflection of the Company's public disclosures on this matter). As per Sino-Forest's 2010 Annual Information Form, the Company had acquired 190,300 hectares (2.855 million mu) under the Master Agreement and retained holdings of 186,700 hectares (2.8 million mu) as at December 31, 2010. As per the Management's Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) that accompanied the financial statements for the first quarter 2011, the Company had acquired approximately a total of 230,200 hectares (3.453 million mu) under the Master Agreement as of March 31, 2011.
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