NP says Jaguar Financial stalking HudBay Minerals

2008-11-24 08:14 ET - In the News

See In the News (C-JFC) Jaguar Financial Corp

The National Post reports in its Monday, Nov. 24, edition that after HubBay Minerals announced its friendly deal to buy Lundin Mining on Friday, Jaguar Financial chief executive officer Vic Alboini jumped into the fray with a hostile proposal to take over HudBay and sell the company in pieces.

The Post's Peter Koven writes that Jaguar is an $8-million company, with a stock that trades at 7.5 cents. Mr. Alboini said: "The barometer for me is that HudBay's stock went down 40 per cent after after the Lundin deal was announced, so obviously the shareholders are not happy. To me it's frankly an obvious situation." Mr. Alboini, a former lawyer turned corporate raider, has made a career of going after undervalued firms like HudBay. However, with this move, he is jumping into a much bigger league where success may not come so easily. In Mr. Alboini's opinion, HudBay may be bigger, but it is cheap. HudBay has plenty of cash and a break-up value that far exceeds the current market cap of $483-million. "I would say [shareholders] range from irate to incredulous," said Mr. Alboini. HudBay has a secure business in Manitoba. Lundin is in the risky Democratic Republic of Congo.