TORONTO, Nov. 18 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ - Noront Resources Ltd. ("Noront" or the "Company") (TSX Venture: NOT) responds to the inaccurate and misleading statements made by Freewest Resources Canada Inc. ("Freewest", TSX-V:FWR) in its press release of November 17, 2009 (the "Press Release"). Noront views the statements made in the Press Release regarding the agreement reached by the parties before the Bureau de Decision et de Revision en Valeurs Mobilieres (the "Bureau") to be incorrect and a blatant attempt to mischaracterize the events that transpired.
On October 30, 2009, Noront submitted its application to the Bureau for a cease-trade order in respect of Freewest's Shareholder Rights Plan. A hearing before the Bureau was scheduled for November 12 and 13, 2009. On November 11, 2009, in advance of the commencement of the hearing, representatives of Freewest initiated discussions with Noront's legal advisors in an attempt to negotiate a settlement.
Following lengthy negotiations between the parties, an agreement was reached late in the day on November 11, 2009 pursuant to which Freewest undertook to waive, effective immediately at 5 p.m. on December 1, 2009, the application of Freewest's Shareholder Rights Plan to Noront's Offer, provided that Noront extended its Offer to a time not earlier than 5:00 p.m. (Montreal time) on December 1, 2009.
Noront is outraged that Freewest would characterize the settlement reached by the parties as anything other than a mutually agreed upon settlement of the issues with respect to the application of the Freewest Shareholder Rights Plan to Noront's Offer. Noront has filed on SEDAR a copy of the executed agreement reached between Noront and Freewest, as formally approved by the Bureau on November 12, 2009.
Noront views these misstatements by Freewest as another example of its efforts to mislead the Freewest shareholders and draw attention away from the only offer that has been put before the Freewest shareholders. As Freewest itself has noted, there is no certainty that an alternative transaction will materialize and, absent a further extension, the Noront Offer will expire at 5:00 p.m. on December 1, 2009.
