Mount Kellett Urges Shareholders to Support Change to the Baja Board
Oversight is Required to Stop the Greenslade Agenda of Enriching
Family and Friends
Urges Shareholders To Vote BLUE Proxy FOR
Both Independent Shareholder Nominees
Mount Kellett Capital Management LP ('Mount Kellett?), today urged
fellow shareholders of Baja Mining Corp. (TSX:BAJ) (OTCQX: BAJFF)
('Baja? or the 'company?) to vote for two new independent shareholder
nominees at the Special Meeting of Shareholders to be held on April 3,
2012. For more information on how to vote the BLUE
proxy, as well as access to other important materials, please visit www.ShareholdersForBaja.com.
Mount Kellett asks shareholders to consider the following:
The Door is Still Wide Open for Related Party
Transactions: After Mount Kellett exposed the pursuit
of a transaction with Catalyst Copper Corp. that would primarily serve
the financial interests of Baja′s CEO, John Greenslade, his family and
his hand-picked board members, the company claims that 'while Baja's
management has considered investing in Catalyst, Baja has no current
intention [emphasis added] of doing so? and offers a weak and highly
conditional commitment to seek the approval of disinterested
shareholders for an investment. The facts are clear: Baja management and
the current board have regularly ignored or manipulated their own
announced policies for their own benefit. Why should shareholders trust
them now? What other related party transactions are Mr. Greenslade and
the board planning? Shareholders need truly independent directors on
the board to stop self-enriching related party transactions before
they happen.
Cronyism and Egregious Compensation:
Mr. Greenslade and friends have shown a pattern of misrepresenting the
facts to benefit themselves. In particular, the stock option plan
shareholders voted on at the 2011 Annual General Meeting was presented
by Mr. Greenslade as 'essential to hire senior management candidates and
key personnel.? Instead, huge stock options grants were awarded to newly
appointed, interlocking directors, Mr. Gerald Prosalendis, Mr. François
Marland and Mr. Giles Baynham. Since joining one another's boards, in
a short 18 month period, Messrs. Greenslade, Marland, Baynham, and
Prosalendis have exchanged more than $4,000,000 in value from options.
Independent Shareholder Nominees Are Urgently
Needed: There is an irrefutable need to elect new directors
that are independent of Mr. Greenslade and his friends to watch out for
the interests of all Baja shareholders. The recent actions by Baja to
attempt to clean up its corporate governance and deny related party
transactions is entirely a result of the spotlight that Mount Kellett
has put on the company. New, truly independent oversight is needed
to ensure policy changes are permanent and adhered to in practice,
something that we believe will not happen with a board that is tightly
controlled by Mr. Greenslade.
Independent shareholder nominees must be added to the Baja board to
watch out for the interests of the public shareholders from the inside. Given
the conduct of Baja′s current board, it is the only sure method to
uphold good corporate governance, prevent self-dealing and enrichment
and protect shareholder value.
Mount Kellett encourages shareholders to carefully review the Proxy
Circular mailed on February 23, 2012 and vote only their BLUE
proxy in advance of the proxy voting deadline of March 30, 2012 at 7:00
am (Vancouver Time).
Voting Instructions: If you have any
questions and/or need assistance in voting your shares, please call
Kingsdale Shareholder Services at 1-888-518-1562 or 1-416-867-2272
(collect calls accepted).
About Mount Kellett Capital Management LP
Mount Kellett is a multi-strategy private investment firm focused on
global value, special situations and opportunistic investing. The firm
has approximately 100 employees with offices in New York, Hong Kong,
London, and Mumbai. The firm currently has in excess of $6 billion in
assets under management.
Kingsdale Communications Inc.
Karen Chodzicki, 416-867-2335
or
Sard
Verbinnen & Co
Dan Gagnier or Sarah Brown, 212-687-8080