Tungsten says Edmund Truell suggestions without merit for shareholders
The Board of Tungsten Corporation Plc ("Tungsten") notes the recent media speculation in relation to Edmund Truell ("Mr. Truell") and his purported offer for Tungsten assets and wishes to provide a clarificatory response.
Mr. Truell ceased to be CEO in July 2015 following a very difficult period for the company and we have today announced his resignation from the board. Since July 2015, Mr. Truell has made a number of suggestions in relation to combining operating businesses owned by Tungsten with other businesses in which he has an interest, including Tantalum, a vehicle telematics business.
The Board received an outline of a new transaction structure from Mr. Truell on Saturday 19th March 2016 which, like its predecessors, did not involve an offer for Tungsten's shares but instead suggested that Tungsten's network business and the cash it expects to receive from the proposed sale of its bank be combined with certain assets in which he has a majority interest in, including Tantalum.
The resulting effect of this conceived combination would be that Tungsten's primary asset would be a minority stake in an enlarged group of disparate, illiquid assets controlled by Mr. Truell and Tungsten itself would be transformed into an investment vehicle. The Board of Tungsten has spent considerable time reviewing these suggestions, including the most recent proposal, and found them to date to be universally without merit for shareholders.
The Board believes it has made significant progress in addressing the challenges facing Tungsten and now believes that the Group strategy as set out at Tungsten's Capital Markets Day on 9 February 2016 remains the best and most certain path to maximise the creation of shareholder value.
The Board's priority is to oversee the effective execution of this strategy under the leadership of Richard M. Hurwitz, Chief Executive Officer, and his executive management team; it believes that distractions from that risk destroying value.