Pentwater Condemns Rio Tinto’s Unethical Termination of Turquoise Hill CEO
March 05 2021 - 8:00AM
Business Wire
Pentwater Capital Management LP ("Pentwater"), the
largest minority shareholder of Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd.
("Turquoise Hill" or the "Company") (TSX:TRQ)
(NYSE:TRQ), believes that the Boards of Rio Tinto and Turquoise
Hill have breached their fiduciary obligations. To quote Canaccord
Genuity in a note published yesterday morning:
Goodbye, good governance – we hardly knew
ye! Mr. Quellmann was the first CEO in our long history with
TRQ [Turquoise Hill] that we believed actually pushed back on Rio
and stood up for decisions that were in the best interests of all
shareholders.
Yesterday, it was announced that Rio Tinto told the Board of
Directors of Turquoise Hill to terminate Turquoise Hill’s CEO Ulf
Quellmann, because he had taken some actions to protect minority
shareholder interests from the unethical practices of Rio Tinto.
The Board of Turquoise Hill then bent to the will of Rio Tinto and
told Mr. Quellmann that he could be fired or agree to resign and
take hush money paid by Turquoise Hill.
Pentwater’s CEO Matthew Halbower stated, “In over 20 years of
investing in companies around the globe, I have never seen poorer
corporate governance than has been exhibited by Rio Tinto and
Turquoise Hill. Mr. Quellmann’s brazen termination serves as just
more proof of what was already clear to all: Rio Tinto has no
respect or regard for good corporate governance or the minority
shareholders of Turquoise Hill. The Turquoise Hill Board should be
ashamed of itself for serving as Rio Tinto shills and equally
ashamed of itself for taking much needed cash from Turquoise Hill
to buy Mr. Quellmann’s silence.”
In recent months, in response to a proxy contest waged by
Pentwater Capital and a class action lawsuit against Mr. Quellmann,
Turquoise Hill and Rio Tinto, among others, Mr. Quellmann finally
started pushing back against Rio Tinto. Turquoise Hill took Rio
Tinto to formal arbitration. Turquoise Hill voted with the
government of Mongolia to begin a formal investigation into Rio
Tinto. Turquoise Hill even filed for a temporary injunction with
the arbitrator and was granted it when Rio attempted to prevent
Turquoise Hill from communicating with the government of Mongolia.
Obviously, having a Turquoise Hill CEO take any action to stand up
to Rio Tinto was too much for Rio to bear.
The board of directors of Turquoise Hill should be ashamed of
themselves for having no backbone in supporting their CEO against
the recriminations of their Rio Tinto overlord. Pentwater reminds
the board of its obligation to protect minority shareholders and
that the directors will be held accountable for their continued
refusal to do so.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210305005316/en/
David Zirin- Chief Operating Officer Pentwater Capital
Management 312-589-6401
Turquoise Hill Resources (NYSE:TRQ)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Turquoise Hill Resources (NYSE:TRQ)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024
Real-Time news about Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd (New York Stock Exchange): 0 recent articles
More Turquoise Hill Resources Ltd. Ordinary Shares News Articles