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Paulson Announces Slate for Algoma Shareholder Meeting

12/02/2005 - Paulson & Co. Inc., a major shareholder of Algoma Steel Inc., has announced its nominees for the Algoma board of directors. In November, Paulson had requisitioned a special shareholder meeting to replace a majority of current Algoma directors.

Paulson & Co. Inc., a major shareholder of Algoma Steel Inc., has announced its nominees for the Algoma board of directors. In November, Paulson had requisitioned a special shareholder meeting to replace a majority of current Algoma directors.

The slate is a well qualified group of Canadian and U.S. individuals with extensive relevant experience in corporate, financial and legal affairs. It includes:

Paulson & Co. also announced that it has commenced a legal action in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to move the date of the special shareholder meeting forward from March 22, 2006.

"We at Paulson will respect the results of a shareholder vote, and we expect no less from Algoma's current directors. We hope that the court will set an earlier date to allow shareholders to make a choice."
  • J. Trevor Eyton, Canadian Senator and Chairman of Ivernia Inc. Eyton is a former Chairman and current Director of Brascan Corp. (now Brookfield Asset Management) and a Director of Coca-Cola Enterprises Inc. (Atlanta). He is a graduate of the University of Toronto.
  • Farokh Hakimi, Executive Vice President, former Chief Financial Officer and Chief Development Officer, Inco Limited. Hakimi is the former Chief Financial Officer of Rio Algom Limited, and the former Treasurer of Cyprus Amax Minerals Co. He holds a Ph.D. from Princeton University, and is a graduate of the University of Massachusetts.
  • Nicholas Tolerico, President of ThyssenKrupp Steel Services (retirement pending). Tolerico is the former Director of Federal Relations for the LTV Corp., and a former senior official working on steel industry matters in International Trade Administration, U.S. Department of Commerce. He is a graduate of Pennsylvania State University.
  • Michael Waldorf, Vice President and Senior Counsel, Paulson & Co. Inc. Waldorf is a former Vice President in the investment banking division of Credit Suisse First Boston, and previously served as a corporate lawyer for Fried Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. He is a graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School.
  • James Wareham, former President of AK Steel Corp. Wareham is also a former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel Corp., and a former President of WHX Corp. He is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame.

Paulson states that it believes the new candidates are significantly more experienced and sophisticated than Algoma's current directors. Funds and accounts managed by Paulson & Co. Inc. own more than twenty-five times more Algoma shares than all of the current directors combined. Paulson believes its proposed board, with high qualifications and greater shareholder representation, will be able to create more shareholder value in the short term and the long term.

In addition to considering shareholder views on refinancing Algoma's debt and distributing excess capital in a tax-efficient manner, Paulson says the new board will examine all other strategic alternatives to maximize value for shareholders. The strong interest of both Arcelor and ThyssenKrupp in purchasing Dofasco at a very high price now shines the spotlight on Algoma.