Goodwood Dissident Circular Provides Dacha Shareholders With Compelling Reasons To Replace Board
Goodwood Inc. 212 King Street West, Suite 201 Toronto, Ontario CANADA M5H 1K5
November 5, 2012
Dear Fellow Shareholder:
We are today providing you with our proxy circular and asking for your support to elect a new board of directors at Dacha Strategic Metals Inc. (" Dacha") that will bring an end to the inappropriate related party dealings, culture of insider self-enrichment and inadequate board oversight and direction that has characterized Dacha for the past three years under the control of Stan Bharti and Forbes & Manhattan, Inc. (" Forbes & Manhattan ").
Dacha's Board is Not Acting in Your Interests Dacha urgently requires a new board of directors that will act in the best interests of Dacha and all its shareholders, rather than serving the interests of Stan Bharti and Forbes & Manhattan:- during fiscal 2012, Dacha's stock price declined 65% from its high leaving the company with a market capitalization of only $37 million;
-
under the control of directors assembled by
Stan Bharti and Forbes &
Manhattan, Dacha has consistently demonstrated that it will place the
interests of
Stan Bharti and Forbes &
Manhattan ahead of the interests
of Dacha's shareholders. The actions referred to below, while suiting
the purposes of
Stan Bharti and other Dacha insiders who benefited from
them, were demonstrably not in the interests of Dacha or its
shareholders:
- Dacha's board recently purportedly adopted inappropriate "change of control" arrangements that, if permitted to stand, will transfer at least $8 million, equal to approximately 22% of Dacha's current market capitalization, from Dacha's shareholders into the pockets of Dacha's insiders, including $3.3 million to Forbes & Manhattan;
- these change of control arrangements are on top of the more than $3.8 million in compensation paid to Dacha's directors and management during fiscal 2012, which included substantial discretionary cash bonuses paid to certain directors notwithstanding Dacha's declining share price;
- in fiscal 2012, Dacha was forced to take a $3.7 million write-off, equal to approximately 10% of its current market capitalization, on account of the non-payment of a non-arm's length related party loan previously advanced by Dacha to a company associated with Stan Bharti and Forbes & Manhattan - contrary to applicable regulatory requirements, this related party loan was advanced without the required public disclosure or notification to the TSX Venture Exchange; and
- Dacha's board recently spent months wasting Dacha shareholder value pursuing an ill advised related party merger transaction with another Forbes & Manhattan company, Aberdeen International Inc., that was not in the best interests of Dacha's shareholders or ultimately even capable of completion, apparently because the combined company did not meet the net income tests under the Toronto Stock Exchange's listing requirements;Dacha has shown itself to be devoid of any coherent strategy to protect the interests of shareholders during the current down-cycle in rare earth element pricing. Over the past 12 months, the net asset value of Dacha's metals inventory and cash has consistently declined every month, falling by an aggregate of approximately 60.8%;
- Dacha's current board and management have demonstrated that they neither understand the intricacies of the rare earth element business nor have the expertise or experience to properly manage Dacha's business or create value for Dacha's shareholders. Their track-record is one of destroying shareholder value, while enriching themselves at the expense of Dacha's shareholders; and
- Dacha's business and affairs are being conducted without sufficient regard to its timely disclosure and other regulatory obligations. Certain share trading undertaken by a director of Dacha in the context of the failed Aberdeen transaction also raises concerns that Dacha's compliance policies are inadequate.
- One of Canada's most accomplished and respected business leaders with a track record of significant long-term value creation at some of Canada's most successful businesses, including Sherritt International Corporation, Viridian Inc., The Horsham Corporation and Merrill Lynch Canada Inc.
- Chairman of The Westaim Corporation, whose principal asset JEVCO Insurance Company was sold to Intact Financial Corporation on September 5, 2012 representing a gain of over 55% to Westaim's shareholders who financed Westaim's acquisition of JEVCO in February 2010
- Has served as a director on some of Canada's largest and most respected companies
- Highly respected former Chief Executive Officer of several successful international metals trading businesses with more than 25 years experience in selling and trading a wide variety of non-ferrous metals
- Significant success in the international metals trading business and extensive knowledge of London Metals Exchange and non-exchange traded metals
- Created new price discovery mechanisms in the cobalt market to generate better transparency for all market participants
- A leading turn-around and restructuring specialist with numerous instances of outsized returns to investors
- Appointed to the board of Miranda Technologies Inc. in March 2012, and instrumental in the sale of Miranda to Belden Inc. generating a return for shareholders of approximately 60% in under one year
- Joined Leitch Technology Corporation in November 2003 and led a highly successful turnaround of the company culminating in a sale to Harris Corporation in 2005 resulting in a return of over 290% for shareholders
- Part of a buyout group of Grass Valley Inc. in 2000 culminating in a sale of the company to Thomson Corp. in 2002 generating a return of approximately 80% over two years
- Extensive experience raising capital for both resource and non-resource growth companies
- Grew CUB Energy Inc. from no production in late 2011 to over 1,500 barrels of oil equivalent and a market capitalization of approximately $90 million today
- The hydrocarbons produced by CUB Energy Inc. today represent a greater volume of hydrocarbon production than ever achieved within Forbes & Manhattan's energy holdings
- CUB Energy's current market capitalization represents a greater market value than all of Forbes & Manhattan's energy holdings combined
- Chief Executive Officer of Kinross Gold Corp. from March 2005 to August 2012
- At Kinross, grew production from 1.65 million ounces of gold to 2.6 million ounces of gold - an increase of approximately 58%; grew gold reserves from 19.4 million ounces to 62.6 million ounces - an increase of over 220%; grew operating cash flow ten-fold; top-performing senior gold producer on NYSE during each of 2006, 2007 and 2008
- Growth in production and reserves is more gold produced or discovered than by all Forbes & Manhattan precious metals companies combined over the past 10 years
- Current and prior directorships include ArcelorMittal, Barrick Gold Corporation, the Ontario Financing Authority and MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates Ltd.
- Significant micro/small capitalization investing and turn-around experience and success
- Orchestrated the management and board revamp of Pacific Safety Products Inc. that solidified the balance sheet, through a financing and merger with Zuni Holdings Inc., and moved the company from recurring losses back to profitability
- Was the catalyst on the board of MTI Global Inc. that initiated a strategic review culminating in the sale of the main operating unit to 3M in June 2010 taking the company from near insolvency to providing a substantial return of capital to shareholders
- 16 year track record of successful management of Goodwood Fund - compounded annual returns of 10.34% since inception in 1996, outperforming the S&P/TSX Total Return Index by 2.96% over that period
- Director of The Westaim Corporation, whose principal asset JEVCO Insurance Company was sold to Intact Financial Corporation on September 5, 2012 representing a gain of over 55% to Westaim's shareholders who financed Westaim's acquisition of JEVCO in February 2010
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