- Canadá - Chile - Argentina:08 de Noviembre de 2013
Peter Munk renuncia a la presidencia de Barrick Gold
El fundador de Barrick Gold abandonará la presidencia de la empresa minera de oro más grande del mundo. El retiro se produce en uno de los peores momentos de la firma. Según se conoció, Munk desea retirarse como presidente a partir de la próxima Junta General de Accionistas.
- La empresa productora de oro más grande del mundo sigue dando sorpresas, es que hoy se conoció que el histórico presidente de Barrick, y fundador de la empresa, Peter Munk tiene intenciones de retirarse como presidente de la junta de accionista en la próxima reunión que mantenga la misma antes de fin de año.
Según reflejan los medios internacionales, la empresa tiene previsto un “rejuvenecimiento de la junta a través de una combinación de las salidas del directorio, la incorporación de directores independientes y la sucesión del presidente en la empresa, de acuerdo con el deseo del señor Munk de retirarse como presidente de la junta directiva, como se ha indicado anteriormente, "dijo la compañía.
El vicepresidente y gerente de cartera de Aston Hill, que tiene cerca de 450.000 de las acciones de Barrick, manifestó que "parece que él (Munk) desea retirarse como presidente de la junta a partir de la próxima Junta General de Accionistas. Yo creo que es una buena noticia para la compañía. Es agradable ver algo más tangible".
No es la primera vez que Barrick ha dado señales de salida de Munk, pero es el más explícito, aunque aún no se dio fecha. El año pasado, Munk dijo en el informe anual de Barrick que estaba buscando a alguien que tomara su lugar y designó al ex socio de Goldman Sachs, John Thornton, como copresidente.
La noticia de la salida del histórico presidente se da luego de que Barrick vendiera 3 millones de acciones y una semana después de que la minera anunciara los planes para suspender la construcción de Pascua Lama.
(Fuente: The Globe and Mail)
Diario de Cuyo
http://www.diariodecuyo.com.ar/home/new_noticia.php?noticia_id=597824
Peter Munk leaving Barrick Gold
Under pressure from shareholders unhappy with sinking share price, Peter Munk signals he is severing ties with his beloved Barrick Gold Corp.
By: Lisa Wright Business Reporter, Published on Fri Nov 08 2013
Mining industry legend Peter Munk gave investors a memorable gift on his 86th birthday Friday — he is finally parting ways with Barrick Gold Corp., the gold-mining giant he founded 30 years ago.
Under mounting pressure from disgruntled shareholders, the troubled Toronto company said in a new corporate filing that succession plans are in the works for the iconic board chairman and several unnamed directors as early as next spring.
Board co-chairman John Thornton, a 58-year-old former president of Goldman Sachs who joined Barrick in 2012, is expected to succeed him, having spent the last year as Munk’s sidekick and being groomed for the position in preparation for an eventual retirement.
Ironically it was Thornton’s controversial $11.9 million signing bonus — part of a jaw dropping $17 million pay package — that caused the uproar last spring among institutional investors and prompted the shakeup observers say was long overdue.
“It’s a nicely timed birthday for Peter,” said longtime industry analyst Barry Allan of Mackie Research Capital in Toronto.
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Observers say it was no coincidence that Munk’s birthday was on the same day his retirement was confirmed in a filing with U.S. securities regulators Friday as part of a $3-billion share offering to tackle the Toronto miner’s debt woes.
“He’s going out with a bang,” said John Ing, president of Maison Placements in Toronto.
“Peter’s got a legacy here. It’s a special day — and it was very much planned,” said Ing.
Barrick said last month it would strengthen its governance practices and add new independent directors to its board after coming under fire for large corporate pay packages and suggestions the board was too tightly controlled by its founder.
Munk had already indicated in the company’s 2012 annual report that he was looking to retire at some point, but the report provided investors with confirmation and a timeline of the board’s next annual meeting in 2014.
“The board is addressing the issues that have been raised with our directors, which include modification of the company’s executive compensation arrangements, the rejuvenation of the board through a combination of departures from the board, the addition of independent directors and succession in the chairman role at the company, consistent with Mr. Munk’s desire to retire as chairman of the board of directors, as previously indicated,” Barrick said in the filing.
“The company’s intention is to update the market before year-end on these initiatives, with governance changes expected to take effect in conjunction with Barrick’s next annual meeting”, which is usually held in April.
The company currently has seven independent directors on its 13-member board.
“At his age it’s only logical that he would want to retire, but it’s unfortunate it had to come to this noise level when it finally happened,” Allan said.
The company Munk formed in 1983 that for many years was known as American Barrick Resources (it still trades under the ticker symbol ABX) has endured a lot of highs and lows in the cyclical world of bullion mining – unfortunately more lows lately as its share price tumbled 45 per cent in the last year amid a falling gold price.
The company mothballed its problem-plagued Pascua-Lama gold-silver project two weeks ago after costs ballooned to $8 billion on the development that had been mired in environmental and legal red tape for several years.
At the same time, chief executive Jamie Sokalsky also launched one of the Canada’s largest share offerings to raise $3 billion U.S. that will be used to repay debt.
It’s uncertain whether recent changes and Munk’s impending departure will revive the share price of the world’s largest gold miner, “but it can’t hurt,” noted Allan. Shares were relatively flat Friday.
“He built an iconic company. And Peter was adamant about keeping it in Toronto” despite massive industry consolidation that has seen Canadian companies gobbled up by international mining interests, said Ing.
Sokalsky declined comment Friday.
Lisa Wright, The Star, Toronto
Fuente:
http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/11/08/peter_munk_leaving_barrick_gold.html2287
