Glamis Gold begins ‘no’ vote campaign

Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2005 | 9:13 a.m.

Glamis Gold Ltd., which made a hostile bid last month for Canada's Goldcorp Inc., said it began a dissident proxy to oppose Goldcorp's planned takeover of Wheaton River Minerals Ltd.

The proxy, which was filed with securities regulators in Canada, allows Glamis to directly solicit from Goldcorp shareholders a "no" vote on the bid for Wheaton at a meeting slated for Jan. 31 in Toronto, the Reno-based company said a statement.

"On the institutional side we have near unanimity that the Glamis offer is superior to the Wheaton River deal with Goldcorp," Glamis Chief Executive Kevin McArthur said in an interview today. "We're working very hard now on the retail side, the individual investors."

Glamis is offering 0.89 share for each Goldcorp share in a transaction valued at C$3.45 billion ($2.83 billion). McArthur, who said he's keen to acquire Goldcorp's Red Lake Mine in northwestern Ontario, said his company's offer is "the best option" because Glamis focuses only on gold. Wheaton produces gold and copper.

Goldcorp's proposed takeover of Vancouver-based Wheaton River Minerals is valued at C$2.46 billion.