Petropavlovsk PLC asked regulators to decide if a group of dissident shareholders holding more than 30% of the miner is acting in a concerted effort to seize control of the company, the Financial Times reported June 5, citing sources familiar with the matter.
Previously, in a Reuters report, the Russian gold miner is said to have raised the issue of the mystery shareholders with the UK Takeover Panel and the UK Listing Authority, with the company asking both regulators to investigate and take appropriate action.
According to the report, should the UK Takeover Panel decide the investors are in collusion in seeking the ouster of the entire Petropavlovsk board, it would effectively cap the group's ability to acquire additional shares, unless it makes a proposal to take over the miner.
In May, a request from CABS Platform Ltd. and Slevin Ltd., which hold an aggregate 9.11% interest in Petropavlovsk, proposed resolutions to remove all existing directors and appoint former board members Pavel Maslovskiy, Roderic Lyne and Robert Jenkins in their stead during the next annual general meeting.
Maslovskiy, a co-founder and former CEO of Petropavlovsk, resigned following the ouster of Chairman Peter Hambro in June 2017.
The resolution for the board's ouster will be voted upon during the annual shareholder meeting later this month, the report added.
