A case being brought by a dissident shareholder in listed Irish exploration group Conroy Gold to prevent his shareholding from being diluted will be heard on September 14th.
Both sides in the dispute, which centres around the possible dilution of Patrick O'Sullivan's 28 per cent stake in the company and the appointment of three new directors, agreed to this date at the High Court onTuesday.
The court heard that Mr O'Sullivan was concerned that the company's chairman, Richard Conroy, would dilute his shareholding.
Jim O’Callaghan, senior counsel for Mr O’Sullivan and a Fianna Fail TD, told the court that his client would seek interlocutory relief at a later date to prevent any dilution of his stake.
Appointment
Brian O’Moore, counsel for Conroy Gold, said that the only issue at play was actually around the appointment of three new directors, which was blocked at an extraordinary general meeting on August 4th.
Mr O’Moore said this related to a compliance issue with article 85 of the company’s articles of association, and noted that Mr O’Callaghan had not addressed this matter before the court.
Mr O’Callaghan said that his client had not been given the results of the poll held on the relevant egm resolutions, and he asked Mr Justice Max Barrett to hold a hearing on the question of interlocutory relief in September.
Mr O’Sullivan is Conroy’s biggest single shareholder having initially invested in 2009.
Directors
The egm was held at his behest, with Mr O’Sullivan seeking to remove six directors from the board and to install three new board members. Mr O’Sullivan wanted himself, Gervaise Heddle and Paul Johnson appointed as directors.
Michael Power, C David Wathen, Louis Maguire, Sorca Conroy, Seamus FitzPatrick and James Jones were removed from office following the egm vote but the resolutions to appoint new directors were unsuccessful.
Mr Conroy told the egm that the resolutions to appoint the new board members were invalid as they did not comply with article 85 of its articles of association. This requires new directors to lodge certain documentation before becoming a a board member.
Conroy Gold is best known for it plans to develop gold deposits that it has found near Clontibret in Co Monaghan, and Slieve Glah in Co Cavan. It also has interests in Finland.
Mr Conroy founded the Dublin-listed exploration company in 1995 to exploit these deposits.
