After a summer of sleuthing on behalf of LAC Minerals (TSE), Ewan Mason and Vangie Mamoukarys are satisfied they have done everything possible to find the company’s “missing shareholders.”
O.Tut of a list of 4,100 shareholders, the two students found 850 or the equivalent of 300,000 LAC shares. The rest, Mason said, have either died, leaving no heirs, or are represented by defunct brokerage firms and investment dealers. As far as LAC is concerned, some have simply vanished. “We’ve pretty well found everyone that we could reasonably expect to find without hiring a detective,” Mason said.
Based on a recent trading price of $9, the total market value of the recovered shares is about $2.7 million. Accrued dividends are also being paid out.
Most of the shares represent old listings, including names like Little Long Lac Gold Mines, Wright Hargreaves Mines and Les Mines Est Marlartic — part of the group of 50 predecessor firms that spawned the present-day LAC. The Toronto-based mining company launched the program earlier this year in an attempt to clean up its shareholder list. Those included on its “missing” roster were lost during a series of amalgamations ending in 1985. Many of the shareholders, often grandchildren of the original investors, reacted with surprise when contacted by the gold producer. Some had even framed their certificates as relics of times gone by.
About 60-65% of the missing shareholders turned out to be American, but some turned up as far afield as New Zealand.
The students will continue their detective work on a part-time basis, said John Pearson, manager of investor relations.
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