Australian pension fund HESTA said on Monday it had sold its remaining stake in billionaire Chris Ellison-founded Mineral Resources, citing “serious governance concerns”.
The mining services provider has been grappling with governance issues, primarily involving Ellison, with allegations including tax evasion and misuse of company resources for personal projects.
MinRes’ founder Ellison to exit after internal misconduct probe
In an email to Reuters, HESTA confirmed it had divested approximately A$14 million ($8.99 million) worth of its stake in Mineral Resources.
HESTA said concerns about the company’s governance were not addressed quickly enough, despite repeated engagement with the board.
It added that departures of directors on the ethics and governance committee were a “significant step backwards” in addressing the concerns.
A spokesperson for Mineral Resources, in an emailed response to Reuters, said that the company remains committed to strengthening corporate governance and the appointment of the new chairman is “well advanced”.
“The ethics and governance committee will be maintained going forward,” the spokesperson said.
($1 = 1.5571 Australian dollars)
(By Kumar Tanishk and Sneha Kumar; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Mrigank Dhaniwala)
