Silver Bear Adds to Board of Directors and Management and Strengthens Financial Position
TORONTO, April 28 /CNW/ --
Strategic Investment by Forbes & Manhattan
NOT FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES OR FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S.
NEWSWIRE SERVICES
TORONTO, April 28 /CNW/ - Silver Bear Resources Inc. ('Silver Bear' or the 'Company') (TSX:SBR) is pleased to announce
changes to the Board of Directors and management, as well as a related
non-brokered private placement. Together, these initiatives further the
Company's strategy of advancing the large Mangazeisky Silver Project
while pursuing other value-enhancing opportunities.
Effective upon closing of the private placement, Messrs. Stan Bharti and
Mark Trevisiol, both of Forbes & Manhattan, Inc., ('F&M') a
Toronto-based, resource focused merchant bank, will join Silver Bear's
Board of Directors. In addition, Mr. Trevisiol is to be appointed as
President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. Mr. Trevisiol
will provide his technical expertise for the completion of the
Preliminary Economic Assessment ('PEA') and related Russian studies on
the Mangazeisky Project in 2011, as well as the aggressive exploration
and development programs contemplated for the Project in future years.
Mr. Randall Oliphant, the current President and Chief Executive
Officer, will resign as such and be appointed as Chairman of the Board.
Further, Mr. Larry King, a member of F&M's Advisory Committee, is to be
appointed an advisor to Silver Bear.
Following these appointments, it is intended that following the annual
and general meeting of shareholders, the Board of Directors of the
Company will be comprised of Messrs. Randall Oliphant, Denis
Alexandrov, Stan Bharti, William Biggar, J. Trevor Eyton, Dominic
Gualtieri, Mark Trevisiol and Christopher Westdal.
As part of the introduction of the new Board, management and advisory
team, Mr. Bharti, through F&M, together with another investor, have
agreed, pursuant to a share purchase agreement (the 'Agreement'), to
subscribe for $3 million in a planned $5 million non-brokered private
placement of common shares of Silver Bear. The financing will be for
aggregate gross proceeds of up to $5 million at a price of $0.80 per
common share. This price reflects the 90-day average price of Silver
Bear's shares since discussions commenced with F&M in January. With the
proceeds of this financing and Silver Bear's current treasury, the
Company will be sufficiently financed to proceed with the analysis and
further exploration of the Mangazeisky Silver Project and to review
other value-enhancing opportunities.
The financing is expected to close on or before May 9, 2011, subject to
satisfaction of customary closing conditions including receipt of
approval of the Toronto Stock Exchange.
'With the PEA currently underway, we are very eager to advance
Mangazeisky through continued exploration and ultimately into
development. The addition of Mark Trevisiol, who will be focused on the
Project, and the depth and expertise of the technical team at Forbes &
Manhattan, will complement Silver Bear's in-country team to spearhead
an exciting program for the Project as we go forward,' stated Randall
Oliphant. 'Mr. Bharti and Forbes & Manhattan have experience operating
in Russia and a successful track record of creating value for junior
mining companies with recent successes such as Consolidated Thompson
Iron Mines, Avion Gold and Desert Sun Mining. We welcome the new
directors' and management team's involvement, and remain committed to
creating substantial shareholder value for Silver Bear shareholders.'
Appointee Biographies
Stan Bharti, P.Eng.
Internationally educated in Moscow and London as a professional mining
engineer, Mr. Bharti has over the last two decades consistently grown
multiple mining assets generating billions in market capitalization.
Mr. Bharti is bottom-line driven with an enormous capacity to manage
multiple complex transactions. He is the Executive Chairman of Forbes &
Manhattan, Inc., a private Canadian merchant bank located in Toronto,
Ontario with a mandate to provide capital markets expertise to new and
emerging companies.
Mark Trevisiol, P.Eng.
Mr. Trevisiol has over 21 years of management experience in the metals
industry. He has served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of
Crowflight Minerals Inc. and the Chief Operating Officer of Liberty
Mines. Formerly General Manager of Business Development & Strategy of
Xstrata Nickel Sudbury Operations, Mr. Trevisiol spent 18 years with
Falconbridge Ltd., in various roles, including General Manager of the
Sudbury Smelter business unit, Production Manager of the Sudbury
smelter and Superintendent of the zinc plant, Kidd Creek Operations.
Larry King
Larry King is recognized internationally as one of the premier broadcast
interviewers. He has won an Emmy Award, two Peabody Awards and ten
Cable ACE Awards. Mr. King has interviewed athletes, actors, writers,
politicians and foreign dignitaries, including a number of memorable
interviews with Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Mr. King
recently retired from his post at CNN and has joined the Advisory Board
of Forbes & Manhattan, Inc.
Annual Meeting of Shareholders
The Company also announced today that it has changed the date of its
annual meeting of shareholders to June 9, 2011. The record date for the
meeting remains April 21, 2011.
Silver Bear Resources Inc.
The primary business of the Company is the evaluation, acquisition,
exploration and development of silver properties in the Russian
Federation. The Company's principal asset is its 100% owned Mangazeisky
Project, located approximately 400 kilometres north of Yakutsk in the
Republic of Sakha, Yakutia in the Russian Federation.
Silver Bear Resources Inc. is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and
its common shares trade under the symbol 'SBR'. Silver Bear has
37,935,569 issued and outstanding common shares prior to this private
placement. Other information relating to Silver Bear is available on
SEDAR at www.sedar.com as well as on the Company's website at www.silverbearresources.com.
Forward-looking statements
This release and subsequent oral statements made by and on behalf of the
Company may contain forward-looking statements, which reflect
management's expectations. Wherever possible, words such as 'intends',
'expects', 'scheduled', 'estimates', 'anticipates', 'believes' and
similar expressions or statements that certain actions, events or
results 'may', 'could', 'would', 'might' or 'will' be taken, occur or
be achieved, have been used to identify these forward-looking
statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this
release reflect management's current beliefs based upon information
currently available to management and based upon what management
believes to be reasonable assumptions, Silver Bear cannot be certain
that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking
statements. A number of factors could cause events and achievements to
differ materially from the results expressed or implied in the
forward-looking statements. Such risks factors include but are not
limited to risks factors identified by Silver Bear in its continuous
disclosure filings filed from time to time on SEDAR. These factors
should be considered carefully and prospective investors should not
place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking
statements necessarily involve significant known and unknown risks, assumptions and uncertainties that may cause
Silver Bear's actual results, events, prospects and opportunities to
differ materially from those expressed or implied by such
forward-looking statements. Although Silver Bear has attempted to
identify important risks and factors that could cause actual actions,
events or results to differ materially from those described in
forward-looking statements, there may be other factors and risks that
cause actions, events or results not to be as anticipated, estimated or
intended. There can be no assurance that forward-looking statements
will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could
differ materially from those anticipated in such statements.
Accordingly, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on
forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made
as of the date of this release, and Silver Bear assumes no obligation
to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, unless
otherwise required by law.
This news release does not constitute an offer of securities for sale in
the United States. The securities being offered have not been, nor will
be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as
amended, and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent
U.S. registration or an applicable exemption from U.S. registration
requirements. This news release shall not constitute an offer to sell
or the solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of
the Common Shares in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation
or sale would be unlawful.
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Brian Penny
Chief Financial Officer
(416)-324-6002
bpenny@silverbearresources.com
Hannes Portmann
Director, Corporate Development and Investor Relations
(416)-324-6014
hportmann@silverbearresources.com