Chanticleer
TNG upheaval a masterclass in shareholder activism
Never has one shareholder achieved so much with so few. That’s the message from Grant Wilson’s campaign against TNG, developer of the Mount Peake vanadium-titanium-iron Project in the Northern Territory.
If Mike Cannon-Brookes was a genius for getting four directors on the board of AGL Energy despite owning only 11.3 per cent of the company, then Grant Wilson is in another league altogether.
Wilson, a former regular columnist at The Australian Financial Review, is within a week of completing a masterclass in shareholder activism against Perth-based titanium mining company TNG.
Former hedge fund manager Grant Wilson has won his fight against the board of TNG, owner of the Mt Peake titanium-iron project. David Rowe
From a tiny shareholder ownership base of only 2.5 per cent of TNG, Wilson launched a digital shareholder activism campaign that almost won at the first extraordinary meeting in September.
The campaign included regular YouTube updates, the distribution of newsletters on the campaign’s progress, town hall meetings with shareholders around the country, and the posting of updates on HotCopper.
At the September meeting, Wilson’s running mate in the run for the board, Anthony Robinson, was elected with a 69 per cent majority. Wilson missed out on being elected by a whisker, with 49.92 per cent in favour and 50.08 per cent against.
But the voting at that meeting was actually a good sign for Wilson’s campaign because a key shareholder in Singapore decided to abstain rather than support the incumbent board, headed by Neil Biddle, and the CEO, Paul Burton.
Throughout his campaign against the company, Wilson highlighted the slow progress in getting approvals for mine development in the Northern Territory.
He argued that having grown up in Alice Springs, he was well-placed to advance the company’s interests given his good contacts with local Indigenous people.
Wilson’s campaign took an extraordinary turn for the better in late October when TNG notified the ASX that not only had Wilson nominated himself for the annual meeting on November 28, but Biddle had decided not to offer himself for re-election.
Also, non-executive director Rowan Johnstone, who had only been appointed a few weeks earlier, had decided not to stand for election.
The last domino to fall in Wilson’s campaign was the departure of Burton. On Tuesday, the company said Burton would step down as CEO on Friday.
“The board has now reached agreement with Paul on the terms of his departure, allowing him to move on with his career and pursue new opportunities in the resources sector,” Biddle said.
Wilson released a statement to Chanticleer on Tuesday saying TNG was about to enter a new era.
Resetting and renewing
“It was the sustained pressure of Aussie retail investors that carried the day,” he says.
“The new leadership team will be resetting and renewing the company from the get-go, commencing at the AGM on Monday. It is going to be a very exciting period.
“The critical minerals sector will come of age in Australia in the decade ahead. TNG has a unique opportunity to participate, both with Mount Peake, and its mineral processing technology, TIVAN.
“Critical, vertical and sustainable: that is the future, and where we will be.
“For the Territory, this is great news. We will be opening an office in Darwin soon and continually engaging with all stakeholders to ensure that a social licence for Mount Peake is earned and maintained.
“The foundations for forward-facing major projects in the Territory are being put in place right now. We have an important role to play, both in reducing the inherent vulnerabilities of concentrated supply chains, and in accelerating digital transformation in the Territory.”
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