Sherritt Issues Letter to Shareholders Highlighting Imminent Threat From a Reckless and Self-Interested Shareholder SC2 Inc., an Affiliate of Seablinc Canada Inc., a Significant Supplier to Sherritt’s Moa Joint Venture
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO
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Warning:
SC2 Inc. aims to controlSherritt for its own gain, without offering a credible plan or a premium, risking the Corporation’s financial wellbeing and strategic progress - Leading independent proxy advisor Glass Lewis recommends shareholders vote FOR all resolution s(1)
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Sherritt’s Board urges shareholders to vote FOR all resolutions and nominees well in advance of the proxy voting deadline on
Friday, June 6, 2025 , at10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time) -
For assistance voting, contact
Kingsdale Advisors at 1-866-229-8263 (toll-free inNorth America ) or (437) 561-5030 (text and collect calls outside ofNorth America ) or at contactus@kingsdaleadvisors.com - For more detailed information, including the full shareholder letter, please visit https://www.sherrittagm.com/
The letter exposes that
The full shareholder letter is available on Sherritt’s website at www.sherrittagm.com/.
(All amounts in Canadian dollars unless otherwise noted)
Key Highlights from the Shareholder Letter
- SC2’s Conflict of Interest: SC2, a shareholder affiliated with Seablinc, poses a significant conflict of interest. SC2’s actions appear to prioritize Seablinc’s supplier agreements over the broader interests of Sherritt shareholders. During SC2’s past investor meetings with Sherritt, a Seablinc representative and former Sherritt employee, led the meetings.
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Exposing SC2's Self-Serving Motives: Seablinc’s revenue from the Moa JV has declined significantly – from approximately
US$145 million in 2022 to an expectedUS$50 million in 2025 – as a result of Sherritt’s improved bidding processes and cost discipline. Rather than competing fairly, SC2 and Seablinc are attempting to take control of your Company to reverse these losses while ignoring potential severe implications for other shareholders. For example, changing all or substantially all of the Board could cause defaults under key agreements and could materially affect or accelerate certain material debt obligations. -
SC2/Seablinc’s History of Self-Serving Actions: SC2 and Seablinc have a history of disruption, misrepresentation and opportunistic tactics to interfere with and threaten your investment in Sherritt, including:
- Failed Mini-Tender – SC2’s first act upon incorporation in
April 2024 was to launch a mini-tender for Sherritt shares which was ultimately unsuccessful. - Failed Board Representation Attempt – In
April 2024 , a law firm acting on behalf of Seablinc emailed Sherritt stating its intention to nominate someone for election as a director. This attempt failed, with no formal nomination made. - Misleading Engagement – Seablinc first approached Sherritt as an investor during a critical time – right in the final stages of the Moa Joint Venture bid process for a major input commodity contract. This timing was not a coincidence. It appears Seablinc was using its shareholder status to pressure Sherritt into awarding them the contract, attempting to influence the decision by presenting themselves as an investor with leverage.
- Deceptive Commercial Activities – In
January 2023 , Seablinc alleged there was unlawful activity being conducted by a rival supplier. An investigation by independent third parties confirmed no unlawful activity occurred. This caused distraction and costs for Sherritt and the rival supplier. - Unprovoked Public Campaign – SC2 has issued multiple misleading press releases aimed at destabilizing Sherritt and undermining confidence from shareholders, other suppliers, customers and financial institutions.
- Invalid Meeting Requisition – SC2 knowingly made an invalid requisition of a special meeting in
January 2025 and chose not to comply with the law. - Multiple Failed Attempts to Block Debt Restructuring – SC2 tried multiple times to block Sherritt’s transformative debt restructuring in the last two months and walked away with no success, only disruption and added cost to Sherritt.
- Withhold Campaign – SC2 is now urging shareholders to vote against your Board's nominees without offering a credible plan, roadmap or demonstrated capability to lead the Company.
- Failed Mini-Tender – SC2’s first act upon incorporation in
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SC2’s interests not aligned with those of other shareholders: SC2's actions are concerning as it has not disclosed its full intentions, and it effectively borrowed shares to gain influence without a long-term commitment to Sherritt. A third party holds an irrevocable option to acquire almost 75% of SC2’s common shares of Sherritt at any time between
August 1, 2025 andMay 1, 2026 , indicating SC2’s short-term and opportunistic interests are not aligned with value creation for all shareholders. -
Sherritt’s Financial and Operational Progress: Over the past four years, Sherritt has achieved significant milestones, including:
- Debt Reduction:
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Since 2022, Sherritt has completed two modified Dutch auction transactions to repurchase an aggregate of approximately
$150 million of notes at a discount to par, reducing outstanding principal by 35%. -
This past April, Sherritt completed transformative transactions that:
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Reduced debt obligations by a further
$68 million (21%). -
Consolidated debt into a single class with maturities extended to
November 2031 . - Lowered annual interest expenses, improving financial flexibility.
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Reduced debt obligations by a further
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Since 2022, Sherritt has completed two modified Dutch auction transactions to repurchase an aggregate of approximately
- Moa Joint Venture Expansion Program:
- Phase One – The Slurry Preparation Plant, completed under budget in early 2024, has reduced ore haulage distances, lowered carbon intensity, and increased throughput over the life of mine.
- Phase Two – The Processing Plant, now in the commissioning phase, is expected to ramp up in 2025, increasing mixed sulphide precipitate production by 20% and filling the refinery to nameplate capacity. This will maximize profitability by displacing lower margin third-party feed and increasing overall finished nickel and cobalt production.
- Cobalt Swap Agreement –In
October 2022 , finalized an agreement with its Cuban partners to recover$368 million of legacy Cuban receivables over five years beginningJanuary 1, 2023 . Under this agreement, GNC, Sherritt’s Moa Joint Venture partner, directs its share of Moa JV distributions to settle the outstanding receivables. In 2023, Sherritt received$152 million in distributions from the Moa Joint Venture and despite lower nickel and cobalt prices in 2024, Sherritt received$30 million in distributions with half of these amounts used as settlement toward the outstanding Cuban receivables. - Energas Optimizations – In 2023, two new gas wells began production, with Unión Cuba-Petróleo supplying gas at no cost to Energas for power generation, driving 31% year-over-year increase in electricity production at Sherritt’s Power division. In 2024, maintenance on three gas turbines, including the activation of an additional turbine to process gas from a third new well, boosted electricity production by another 10%. Dividends in
Canada from Energas rose from$1.4 million in 2023 to$13 million in 2024, with projections for 2025 expected to significantly increase to be between$25 million to$30 million . - Energas Joint Venture Extension – In
October 2022 , Cuba’s government approved a 20-year extension of Energas’ joint venture contract to 2043, ensuring long-term energy security, supporting Sherritt’s ongoing investments inCuba and contributions to cash inCanada . - Cost Optimization – In 2024, implemented organizational restructuring and cost savings initiatives to yield
$17 million in annual cost savings. Streamlined the executive team from seven members to five. - Procurement Optimizations – Enhanced bidding processes for input commodities, reducing costs and improving supplier competitiveness.
- Debt Reduction:
Strong Board Independence and Expertise:
- Sherritt’s Board has undergone significant renewal, with five of six independent directors joining in the past four years including three who joined since March of last year. The Board brings critical expertise in mining, finance, diplomacy, ESG, and governance.
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The addition of
Richard Moat inApril 2025 further strengthens the Board’s oversight capabilities.
Glass Lewis Endorsement(1):
- Leading independent proxy advisor Glass Lewis has recommended shareholders vote FOR all resolutions, recognizing the significant progress Sherritt has made under its current Board and management team.
Sherritt’s Board urges shareholders to vote FOR all resolutions and nominees well in advance of the proxy voting deadline on
Shareholders requiring assistance with voting are encouraged to contact Sherritt’s strategic shareholder advisor and proxy solicitation agent,
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Phone: 1-866-229-8263 (toll-free in
North America ) or (437) 561-5030 (text and collect calls outside ofNorth America ) - Email: contactus@kingsdaleadvisors.com
For more detailed information, including the full shareholder letter, please visit https://www.sherrittagm.com/.
About Sherritt
Sherritt is a world leader in using hydrometallurgical processes to mine and refine nickel and cobalt – metals deemed critical for the energy transition. Sherritt’s Moa Joint Venture has an estimated mine life of approximately 25 years and is advancing an expansion program focused on increasing annual MSP production by 20% of contained nickel and cobalt. The Corporation’s Power division, through its ownership in Energas, is the largest independent energy producer in
(1) Permission to reference Glass Lewis was sought and is pending approval. |
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements can generally be identified by the use of statements that include such words as “believe”, “expect”, “anticipate”, “intend”, “plan”, “forecast”, “likely”, “may”, “will”, “could”, “should”, “suspect”, “outlook”, “potential”, “projected”, “continue” or other similar words or phrases. Specifically, forward-looking statements in this document include, but are not limited to, statements regarding strategies, plans and estimated production amounts resulting from expansion of mining operations at the Moa JV and dividend growth from the Power division.
Forward-looking statements are not based on historical facts, but rather on current expectations, assumptions and projections about future events, including commodity and product prices and demand; the level of liquidity and access to funding; share price volatility; nickel, cobalt and fertilizer production results and realized prices; current and future demand products produced by Sherritt; global demand for electric vehicles and the anticipated corresponding demand for cobalt and nickel; revenues and net operating results; environmental risks and liabilities; compliance with applicable environmental laws and regulations; advancements in environmental and greenhouse gas (“GHG”) reduction technology; GHG emissions reduction goals and the anticipated timing of achieving such goals, if at all; statistics and metrics relating to Environmental, Social and Governance (“ESG”) matters which are based on assumptions or developing standards; environmental rehabilitation provisions; risks related to the
The Corporation cautions readers of this press release not to place undue reliance on any forward-looking statement as a number of factors could cause actual future results, conditions, actions or events to differ materially from the targets, expectations, estimates or intentions expressed in the forward-looking statements. These risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, commodity risks related to the production and sale of nickel cobalt and fertilizers; security market fluctuations and price volatility; level of liquidity of Sherritt, including access to capital and financing; the ability of the Moa JV to pay dividends; the risk to Sherritt’s entitlements to future distributions (including pursuant to the Cobalt Swap) from the Moa JV; risks related to Sherritt’s operations in
The Corporation, together with its Moa JV, is pursuing a range of growth and expansion opportunities, including without limitation, process technology solutions, development projects, commercial implementation opportunities, life of mine extension opportunities and the conversion of mineral resources to reserves. In addition to the risks noted above, factors that could, alone or in combination, prevent the Corporation from successfully achieving these opportunities may include, without limitation: identifying suitable commercialization and other partners; successfully advancing discussions and successfully concluding applicable agreements with external parties and/or partners; successfully attracting required financing; successfully developing and proving technology required for the potential opportunity; successfully overcoming technical and technological challenges; successful environmental assessment and stakeholder engagement; successfully obtaining intellectual property protection; successfully completing test work and engineering studies, prefeasibility and feasibility studies, piloting, scaling from small scale to large scale production, procurement, construction, commissioning, ramp-up to commercial scale production and completion; and securing regulatory and government approvals. There can be no assurance that any opportunity will be successful, commercially viable, completed on time or on budget, or will generate any meaningful revenues, savings or earnings, as the case may be, for the Corporation. In addition, the Corporation will incur costs in pursuing any particular opportunity, which may be significant.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive and should be considered in conjunction with the risk factors described in the Corporation’s other documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities, including without limitation the “Managing Risk” section of the Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended
The Corporation may, from time to time, make oral forward-looking statements. The Corporation advises that the above paragraph and the risk factors described in this press release and in the Corporation’s other documents filed with the Canadian securities authorities should be read for a description of certain factors that could cause the actual results of the Corporation to differ materially from those in the oral forward-looking statements. The forward-looking information and statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof and the Corporation undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any oral or written forward-looking information or statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by applicable securities laws. The forward-looking information and statements contained herein are expressly qualified in their entirety by this cautionary statement.
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For more information, please contact:
FGS Longview (Media Contact)
Email: sherritt@fgslongview.com
Sherritt Investor Relations
Telephone: (416) 935-2451
Toll-free: 1 (800) 704-6698
Email: investor@sherritt.com
www.sherritt.com
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