Asia Resource Minerals : Further Statement Requisition of General Meeting

RNS Number : 3345B

Asia Resource Minerals PLC

06 January 2015

6 January 2015

For Immediate Release

Asia Resource Minerals plc ("ARMS" or the "Company")

Further Statement Regarding Requisition of General Meeting

Following its statement of 23 December 2014 alerting shareholders to the requisition of a general meeting of the Company (the "General Meeting") by Borneo Bumi Energi and Metal Pte Ltd ("Borneo"), a Samin Tan-controlled vehicle, the Board of Directors of the Company (the "ARMS board") is now in a position to make the following comments. The ARMS board also notes that a circular with formal notice of the General Meeting will be sent to shareholders by 12 January 2015.

On 22 December 2014 (the "Requisition Date"), the ARMS board received a notice from Borneo requisitioning the General Meeting to consider and, if thought fit, pass ordinary resolutions to:

· remove Sir Richard Gozney, Amir Sambodo, Hamish Tyrwhitt and any additional Directors appointed during the period commencing on the Requisition Date and ending at the time of the General Meeting from their offices as Directors; and

· appoint each of Kenneth Raymond Allan, Kin Chan, Benjamin Alexander Wiley and Alexander Ramlie as Directors.

Borneo has not yet explained why it wishes to change the ARMS board, including removing the independent Indonesian CEO and the Senior Independent Director. Borneo's notice, combined with this lack of explanation, has already caused unnecessary uncertainty.

Borneo's proposed changes would deliver control of the ARMS board to Borneo nominees. This would create an obvious risk that the Company's principal asset,Berau, would be operated in the interests of financially distressed Borneo and other Samin Tan entities and not all ARMS stakeholders.

Furthermore, Borneo's proposed ARMS board changes would add significant uncertainty to the Berau 2015 Notes maturity extension process. The failure of that process would lead to default on the Berau 2015 Notes and possible suspension of trading in ARMS shares and the loss of ARMS's premium listing.

In contrast to Borneo's proposed ARMS board, the current ARMS board is independent, has a clear strategy and is best placed to continue to execute that strategy in order to create value for all stakeholders.

Specifically, the ARMS board believes that the key to a successful future for ARMS is:

- maintaining an independent board and UK standards of corporate governance;

- putting in place a long-term sustainable capital structure for the Company and its subsidiaries, which at a minimum means effecting a maturity extension of the Berau 2015 Notes in the first half of 2015; and

- streamlining operations, improving efficiency and cutting costs in a stable manner.

Sir Richard Gozney, the Senior Independent Director commented: "The ARMS board is focused on executing its strategy to deliver value to all shareholders, including Samin Tan and Borneo, including through the crucial Berau 2015 Notes maturity extension process. Borneo has made no attempt to explain why it is proposing fundamental changes to the independent board at this critical time and its actions have already caused unnecessary uncertainty."

Bob Kamandanu, Chairman, said: "As chairman, I have been working with the current independent board and management team to improve both the operations and capital structure of the Company. We are making progress but there is still much more to do and Borneo's actions will de-stabilise this process. I urge shareholders to deny them in this regard and allow the current team to continue to execute what is the right strategy for the Company by voting against the proposed resolutions."

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