Stop the steal
On Thursday, the bid of NOK 2.2 per share was announced – coincidentally on the same day that Norwegian media were focused on politicians visiting the U.S. President. As a naive Norwegian, one could hope that REC’s board and management were working on a refinancing solution, especially after terminating a contract worth USD 3 billion. But that hope was misplaced: Norwegian brokerages, REC’s management, and the board all seem to support a scandalously low offer.
Equal treatment of all shareholders is a fundamental principle under Norwegian law, and it is the board’s duty to safeguard this. REC appears to care little about that responsibility.
E24 published an article with the headline “The Koreans decide everything” – and it seems they hit the nail on the head.
Levens, the CEO, was some time ago asked about the "replacement value" for Moses Lake and Butte – his answer was USD 3 billion.
Butte is in production and holds significant value, while Moses Lake likely has a lower value until the plant is fully operational – in a U.S. market now building trade barriers against Asian polysilicon.
Even after subtracting USD 400 million in debt, it is obvious that the underlying values – spread across 420 million shares – are far higher than the lowball offer.
Take out Excel or a calculator and do the math yourself.
We, as an initiative group, have been trying to engage the board and management for several months. Despite sending a letter signed by shareholders holding 17 million shares (over 4%), we have received zero response – only excuses.
Some of us have contacted the Financial Supervisory Authority (Finanstilsynet), but so far, we have received no reply. They need to wake up and act on behalf of 35,000 shareholders. We see that one shareholder has established dialogue with a contact person at Finanstilsynet and has shared the contact information across various forums. We applaud this and hope many other shareholders will follow up. Media contacts can also be pursued.
It should also be noted that 83 million shares have been registered via our website, across 839 submitted forms. Some may have sold, others may have bought; some are highly engaged, others less so – but together, we have significant strength. The registered shares now represent just under 20% of the total outstanding shares.
We are aware of the challenges, costs, and time involved in initiating an investigation – and right now, time is short. We are evaluating various legal actions together with other shareholders.
Fortunately, it seems unlikely that the Koreans will be able to acquire 90% of the shares through this lowball offer. However, a messy plan B could emerge, and the decisive battle will likely take place at the Annual General Meeting on June 24 – or at a possible Extraordinary General Meeting before that date.
We are also working on another initiative, which for now we are keeping confidential, knowing that this site has readers from both the U.S. and Korea. Whether it will succeed remains to be seen, but we are certainly going to try.
We urge everyone to reach out to Finanstilsynet, the media, and political contacts – it’s time for Robin Hood to win, but we need some help.
If anyone out there has media experience and can front this case on behalf of multiple shareholders, please get in touch!