Page 10 - Sundance Resources Ltd Annual Report 2013

8 SUNDANCE RESOURCES LIMITED ANNUAL REPORT 2013
Dear Shareholders
“Acting in the best interests of shareholders.” It’s one of the most abused clichés in financial circles, yet in the
past year it has been a mantra which has been repeated in the Sundance boardroom on what must be a record
number of occasions.
As the Sundance directors and management can now attest, being truly committed to acting in shareholders’ best
interests often also means being prepared to absorb the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune.
During the course of Hanlong’s takeover bid for Sundance, there was much commentary in the media and among
some investors about the Board’s decision to accept reductions in the original offer price and our willingness to
continue the negotiations and extend various deadlines.
I would like to take this opportunity to assure all Sundance shareholders that rather than these decisions being
signs of weakness, they actually reflected the strength of the Board’s resolve to ensure that shareholders received
the best possible outcome in the circumstances.
The easy response would have been for the Board to end the takeover process at the first, and indeed
subsequent, opportunities. But it would have also had the effect of ensuring that Sundance shareholders were not
given the maximum opportunity to receive an attractive price for their stock via that transaction.
The Board’s ongoing support for the Hanlong offer was in part underpinned by the fact that China’s National
Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) had granted provisional approval for the deal. Amendments to the
terms of the offer also meant that Sundance was free to hold discussions with other potential bidders.
It is also important to note that during this time, Sundance continued to make outstanding progress with its
Mbalam-Nabeba Iron Ore Project. In particular, the Company secured a vital agreement with the governments of
Cameroon and the Republic of Congo. The attainment of the Congo Mining Permit and the Mbalam Convention
are pivotal to the development prospects for the Project.
The Board maintained its policy of supporting the Hanlong transaction until the point at which it believed there was
no longer any realistic chance of it succeeding. At this time, the directors took the view that the Company should
focus all its efforts on securing strategic partners who could work with Sundance to develop the Mbalam-Nabeba
Iron Ore Project.
This decision was taken because the directors deemed it was in shareholders’ best interests to pursue an
alternative strategy.
The Board was unquestionably disappointed that the Hanlong takeover was not completed successfully.
We believe this would have been an outstanding result for shareholders, valuing your company at A$1.37 billion,
and that is why we worked so hard for so long pursuing the proposal.
Given this, I believe it is wrong to suggest that the Board should not have continued to negotiate as long as it
did or that it should not have even entertained the Hanlong offer in the first place. I am unequivocal in my view
that while the actions endorsed by our critics would have been the easy ones, they would not have been in
shareholders’ best interests.
CHAIRMAN’S LETTER TO
SHAREHOLDERS