Goodwood’s circular also highlights the failures of Dacha’s current board and management under the direction of Mr. Bharti and Forbes & Manhattan, contrasting the significant 65-per-cent drop in Dacha’s share price during fiscal 2012 from its peak against the approximately $3.8-million in compensation, including substantial discretionary cash bonuses, paid to Dacha’s directors and management during fiscal 2012. As well, the circular refers to the wholly inappropriate change-of-control arrangements recently purportedly implemented by Dacha’s board that, if allowed to stand, would see a further $8-million, or approximately 22 per cent of Dacha’s current market capitalization, wrongfully transferred from Dacha’s shareholders into the pockets of Dacha’s insiders including Forbes & Manhattan. The circular also lays out the disturbing sequence of events whereby Dacha was forced to take a $3.7-million write-off in fiscal 2012 in relation to a non-arm’s-length related party loan previously advanced by Dacha, for no apparent business purpose, to a private company associated with Mr. Bharti and Forbes & Manhattan.
UPDATE: DSM has just released this NR, defending current management and pointing to weaknesses in the proxy slate, its people and their track record. It gives a good opportunity for this humble corner of cyberspace to note that we have no opinion on the qualities of the proxy slate runners, be they Goodwood, Salida or whoever else. Just because one side is negative it doesn’t necessarily mean that the other is some saviour knight in shining armour with nothing but pure good in their heart. Our point is a different one, that Stan Bharti, Forbes & Manhattan, the people associated with him and all other businesses run in the same manner as a cancer on the mining business and on capital markets and they should be squashed, once and for all. Scumballs like this have no place in the 21st century.