RE:A Tough Question regarding the Past for Anthony MilewskiThank you for your question. My personal view is that some of the negativity around Cobalt 27 was not warranted. Keep in mind that at the time of the transaction cobalt metal had been on a continuous price decline for a year. Pala went in to the open market and bought 19.9% of the outstanding shares, making it the largest shareholder by a wide margin and giving it significant voting power. Pala brought a deal to the board that in the face of continued weakness in both the share price and underlying metal, needed to be shown to shareholders. The offer that was presented to shareholders implied a much higher cobalt price than what the market cap reflected at the time. And in the year and a half since the deal the cobalt price has remained depressed. The deal, when presented to shareholders, needed shareholder approval without Pala, the management or directors vote (it needed a majority of the minority). Moreover 66 percent of the shares outstanding had to vote in favor of the transaction. While you may not like the outcome, it was truly chosen by the disinterested shareholders.
With Conic, management and the board now have roughly 16% of the outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis. This makes the group the largest single group of shareholders, and aligned with everyone else.