Dissident Conroy Gold shareholder to move against chairman

Shareholder seeks to prevent share dilution and appointment of new board members

Prof Richard Conroy (centre) at the recent extraordinary general meeting of Conroy Gold and Natural Resources. Photograph: Cyril Byrne
Prof Richard Conroy (centre) at the recent extraordinary general meeting of Conroy Gold and Natural Resources. Photograph: Cyril Byrne

Lawyers for a dissident shareholder in a gold exploration company will seek an interlocutory injunction on Tuesday against the company’s chairman.

Bernard McEvoy, a solicitor for shareholder Patrick O'Sullivan, will ask the High Court to prevent the appointment of new directors and a share dilution in Conroy Gold and Natural resources.

On August 4th, at an extraordinary general meeting, shareholders voted to remove six of nine directors in Conroy Gold and appoint three new directors to a board reduced in size. While the company chairman, Prof Richard Conroy, allowed the removal of the six directors, he did not allow the appointment of three new directors.

At that time it was understood that Mr Conroy stopped the three new directors being added to the board under a clause in the company’s articles of association requiring prior notification.

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Mr O’Sullivan’s legal team will seek a short expedited hearing on the validity of Prof Conroy’s decision not to allow the appointment of those new directors and, pending the outcome of that, will ask the court to freeze the status quo.

Mr O’Sullivan is Conroy’s biggest single shareholder, with 28 per cent of the company, having initially invested in 2009.

Conroy Gold and Natural Resources 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.

Prof Conroy founded the Dublin-listed exploration company in 1995 to exploit these deposits.

Peter Hamilton

Peter Hamilton

Peter Hamilton is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in business