Stop Selling Arrium Australia
Stop Selling Arrium Australia – 5 May 2017
There has been further positive news regarding Arrium's profitability and viability, which makes continued administration a complete farce.
KordaMentha are continuing to influence the media, promoting outdated debt figures (pre sale of Molycop for $1.6 billion, and pre 11 months of continuous growth).
Every media article uses the adjective "struggling" or "embattled", they should be replaced with "booming".
Many workers and shareholders are joining us in increasing numbers seeking political leadership to stop this unjust sale.
Our members represent a cross section of Arrium, with the daily feedback we receive indicating most business units are at maximum capacity and the business is substantially outperforming targets.
Why is Arrium (with its roots in BHP) still being sold to Liberty House with a dubious track record of corporate governance and its disregard of employee entitlements (google Tata Steel UK)?
Why is Arrium being sold when it has EBITDA of $500 million pa? (Morgan Stanley pocketing $100 million of that in selling fees)
Why is Arrium still in administration when there are thousands of highly competent Arrium employees and management running the business now? (KordaMentha billing $1 million per week, with dubious value adding). All that is now needed is a new board of directors that you have input into its composition.
If Arrium is allowed to be sold to an overseas buyer Liberty House it will go down in Australian corporate history as the most disgraceful administration ever (even worse than KordaMentha's handling of Ansett for 10 years of fees with still no published financial returns.) Arrium also is potentially the largest legal class action in Australian corporate history.
If sold it is also potentially the largest capital loss by taxpayers ever claimed against the ATO. With 80,000 shareholders, and say 80% of them Australian residents for tax purposes, Government payouts will be several hundred million dollars. Many thousands of those are ex-BHP and ex-OneSteel employees (and your members) in retirement with company share plans, that will be worthless, with tax losses fully deductible.
As Arrium's largest known shareholder we have copied Government Investment Corporation of Singapore (GIC) for information purposes only. GIC is one of the world's largest fund managers representing the pension funds of Singapore Government employees.
Please take action to protect our steel industry and jobs and stop this appalling ongoing administration and sale of Arrium Australia.
kind regards
ASU Member
p.s. a copy of this week's positive media articles:
1. Treasurer scuttles plans to move BHP offshore (why is Arrium any different?, if sold to Liberty House, profits, tax payments and jobs will be moved offshore)
2. Proposed $73 million contract to provide railway steel for Adani Coal (link: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-05-04/$73-million-adani-steel-contract-to-bolster-arrium-steelmaker/8495522)
3. 44 jobs and a new shift for Whyalla as they are at full capacity (hardly the decision of a business needed to be sold) http://www.whyallanewsonline.com.au/story/4634987/good-news-rolls-for-arrium
