TORONTO, ONTARIO--(Marketwired - Dec. 10, 2014) - Aberdeen International Inc. (TSX:AAB) ("Aberdeen" or the "Company") today continued on its path to enhance its Board of Directors and implement governance best practices by announcing certain Board changes that will strengthen the overall expertise, independence, and accountability of the Board to shareholders. The renewed Board will include the appointment of three highly qualified and prominent independent directors who will carry on Aberdeen's longstanding commitment to an active, constructive, and responsive dialogue with all shareholders.
Effective January 1, 2015, Messrs. John Begeman, Maurice Colson, and Ken Taylor will be appointed to the Board of Directors of Aberdeen, replacing Messrs. Michael Hoffman, Bruce Humphrey and Honorable Pierre Pettigrew, p.c.
Mr. Begeman is a Professional Mining Engineer with over 35 years of mining experience. He currently sits on the board of director of Yamana Gold Inc. and Premier Goldmines Limited. He has previously served as the President and CEO of Avion Gold Corporation, as the Chief Operating Officer of Zinifex Canada Inc. and as Vice President, Western Operations of Goldcorp Inc. In his capacity for Goldcorp, he was responsible for its surface gold operations in South Dakota and the Industrial Minerals Division in Saskatchewan. Previous to his employment at Goldcorp, Mr. Begeman held various engineering and management positions with Morrison Knudsen Company in the contract mining operations group throughout the Western United States. Mr. Begeman holds a B.Sc. in Mining Engineering, a M.S. in Engineering Management and Masters of Business Administration degree.
Mr. Colson has worked in the investment industry for more than 35 years and was for many years managing director for a major Canadian investment dealer in the United Kingdom. He is actively involved in providing strategic counsel and assistance with financing to emerging private and public companies in Canada and to Canadian companies operating internationally. He sits on the board of directors of several TSX and TSX Venture listed companies and is the former President and CEO of Lithium One Resources. Mr. Colson holds a Masters of Business Administration degree.
Mr. Taylor O.C., is a diplomat and businessman from Calgary, Alberta. He is a former Canadian Ambassador to Iran who is best known for his role in the 1979 covert operation that helped save the lives of six American hostages during the Iran Crisis. After returning from Iran, Taylor was appointed Canadian Consul-General to New York City. From 1959 to 1984, Mr. Taylor's served in the Canadian Foreign Service where he was involved in trade development responsibilities. Since his resignation from the Foreign Service in 1984, he has worked extensively in the private and public sectors, providing counselling services to clients on issues of political risk, international marketing and strategic accommodation with government. He has held executive positions and served as a board member for a range of companies in Canada, the United States and Mexico. Mr. Taylor holds Honorary Doctorate degrees from Laurentian University, Dominican College of Blauvelt, State University of New York, St. Francis Xavier University, St. Lawrence University, and Victoria University at the University of Toronto. Mr. Taylor earned a B.A. from Victoria College at the University of Toronto and a Masters of Business Administration degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
In addition, the Company is pleased to announce it has appointed Bernie Wilson as the Lead Director of Aberdeen. Mr. Wilson is a senior financial professional. He is the former Vice-Chairman of PriceWaterhouseCoopers LLP and is the Chairman of the Founders Board of the Institute of Corporate Directors. Mr. Wilson has served as Chairman of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce; Chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce - Canada; and Member of the Canada/US Trade Committee. Mr. Wilson is currently a director of a number of other public Canadian companies. Drawing on his experience as Chairman of the Founders Board of Institute of Corporate Directors, as Lead Director, Mr. Wilson will work with the Board of Directors of Aberdeen and its various standing committees to ensure effective corporate governance practices and to enhance and protect the independent of the Board.
The Company would like to thank Messrs. Hoffman, Humphrey and Pettigrew for their years of service and commitment to the Company.
Aberdeen continues to engage its shareholders to gain their perspectives, concerns and ideas for additional improvements and implementation of governance best practices. The Company is in the process of completing a corporate governance enhancement review and looks forward to providing further updates in the coming months.
About Aberdeen International Inc:
Aberdeen is a publicly traded global investment and merchant banking company focused on small cap companies in the resource sector. Aberdeen will seek to acquire significant equity participation in pre-IPO and/or early stage public resource companies with undeveloped or undervalued high-quality resources. Aberdeen will focus on companies that: (i) are in need of managerial, technical and financial resources to realize their full potential; (ii) are undervalued in foreign capital markets; and/or (iii) operate in jurisdictions with low to moderate local political risk. Aberdeen will seek to provide value-added managerial and board advisory services to companies.
For additional information, please visit our website at www.aberdeeninternational.ca and follow us on Facebook and Twitter: AberdeenAAB.
Cautionary Note
Except for statements of historical fact contained herein, the information in this press release constitutes "forward-looking information" within the meaning of Canadian securities law. Such forward-looking information may be identified by words such as "plans", "proposes", "estimates", "intends", "expects", "believes", "may", "will" and include without limitation, statements the timing surrounding further announcements, the business activities of the Company and possible investment opportunities, the potential of certain investments, the ability of the Company to generate additional value for shareholders, the ability of the Company to enter into a definitive agreement with respect to announced transactions and close such transactions, and past success as an indicator of future success. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate; actual results and future events could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include, among others, metal prices, competition, financing risks, acquisition risks, risks inherent in the mining industry, regulatory risks and other risks described in Aberdeen's annual information form. Most of these factors are outside the control of the Company. Investors are cautioned not to put undue reliance on forward-looking information. Except as otherwise required by applicable securities statutes or regulation, the Company expressly disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.