Taseko’s proxy battle with Raging River gets heated

VANCOUVER — Taseko Mines (TSX: TKO; NYSE-MKT: TGB) is in the midst of a proxy battle with upstart activist shareholders Raging River Capital, which has led to a flurry of press releases and a potential defamation law suit. Raging River requisitioned a Taseko shareholder meeting on Jan. 13 to cut the company's ties with privately owned Hunter Dickinson (HDI) group. The activist shareholder collective – which owns a 5.1% equity stake in Taseko – noted that HDI executives hold three board positions at the company, including Taseko chairman Ronald Thiessen (HDI's CEO and a director of HDI) and Taseko CEO Russell Hallbauer (a director of HDI). Raging River subsequently cited concerns around fees and investments totaling $25.8 million paid to HDI since 2012, and a deal in November 2014 wherein Taseko acquired Curis Resources and its Florence Copper project in Arizona for $80 million. The deal represented a 21% premium on Curis' 20-day volume weighted trading price at the time, and Raging River has framed the takeover as a "bail out" of a junior company that was nearing bankruptcy. Read the entire story at www.NorthernMiner.com/news/tasekos-proxy-battle