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Tigers Realm will take steps to delist from the Australian Stock Exchange after shareholders approved a fire sale of its Russian coal mines to a Russian businessman the chairman conceded may have had former connections to oligarchs sanctioned by the federal government.
The ASX-listed miner will sell its operations — two coking coal mines and an export terminal in Russia’s far east – to APM Invest, owned by Mark Buzuk, for $US49 million ($74 million) after the Federal Court in April ruled Tigers Realm was in breach of sanctions against Russian interests following the Ukraine invasion.
Tigers Realm trucks transport coal in Russia’s far east.Credit: Tigers Realm
Tigers Realm chairman Craig Wiggill told investors at a meeting in Melbourne on Tuesday afternoon the company had received much higher offers from multiple other businesses, but were forced to settle on the sale to Buzuk because of Australia’s strict sanctions laws and Russia’s cap on the sale price.
He said Tigers Realm was “walking a tightrope” because it was under pressure from the Putin government to sell its assets to a Russian business as Australia was deemed a “hostile entity”, while simultaneously under pressure by the Australian government which had sanctioned the trading of Russian coal.
Paul Little and his wife own a significant stake in Tigers Realm Coal.Credit: Simon Schluter
The company said it had about $120 million in equity, which it was now forced to forfeit. Ninety-nine per cent of shareholders, including billionaires Paul Little and his wife Jane Hansen, voted for the sale.
“We fought [Russia’s cap] over a number of months and there is no moving,” Wiggill said. “We are not dealing with a commercial-related argument, we’re dealing with a political relationship … We have endeavoured for the last two years to find solutions to the best outcome for our shareholders.”
When asked about Buzuk’s connection to the Russian state, Wiggill said Tigers Realm had conducted its due diligence and the Russian mining tycoon was not sanctioned by the Australian government.
He said the company went through a thorough process to screen Buzuk, and other potential buyers, to ensure the sale did not fall through at the eleventh hour because of a breach in Russian or Australian law.