Asensio & Company, Inc. has today notified Chief Justice W.K. Moore of the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta, who is the residing judge in Solv-Ex Corporation’s (“Solv-Ex”) Canadian Creditors Arrangement proceedings, of the press releases issued by Solv-Ex and United Tri-Star Resources Ltd. concerning Geopetrol Resources Ltd.’s letter dated September 29, 1997. The Geopetrol letter, which is described below in detail, was the only offer Solv-Ex presented to the Court by last week’s deadline for submission of acquisition offers. This alleged offer failed to meet the Court’s “firm commitment” requirement. The Geopetrol releases led to numerous completely false reports of Solv-Ex’s possible emergence from both Canadian and U.S. bankruptcy. According to the Chief Justice’s Legal Research officer Solv-Ex made representations to the Court that its shares remain halted and that trading in its shares had ceased.
The Geopetrol letter does not constitute a firm commitment. The Geopetrol proposal is non-binding and is not supported by any proof of financial capability. The alleged offer is conditioned on due diligence, approvals not only from the U.S. and Canadian bankruptcy courts but also approvals from the U.S. and Canadian trade creditors and debenture holders, and numerous other legal and regulatory parties. At face value the proposal offers “up to U.S. $15 million,” which is insufficient to provide any salvation for Solv-Ex junior debt holders much less provide any residual value for Solv-Ex’s shareholders. Even this discussion is academic since Geopetrol’s offer can only be termed a complete farce.
In addition to the notice to Chief Justice W.K. Moore, Asensio & Company provided copies of Solv-Ex’s fraudulent press releases to Solv-Ex Canadian Bankruptcy Monitor’s attorney and U.S. securities regulators. Solv-Ex has approximately $10 million of convertible Reg S debentures outstanding. The holders of these securities could benefit from a short-lived run-up in Solv-Ex’s stock caused by the false Geopetrol reports.
Solv-Ex Corporation (Trading Symbol: SOLVQ) (Price: N/A)
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