HONG KONG, Oct. 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Scully Royalty
Ltd. (the "Company", together with its subsidiaries, the "Group")
(NYSE: SRL), in response to an inaccurate report recently publicly
released by a third party, provides an update on its litigation
relating to an alleged guarantee of the former parent company of
the Group, as well as an update on its iron ore royalty
interest.
Corrective Update on Litigation
As previously disclosed, the Company and certain of its
subsidiaries were named as defendants in a legal action related to
an alleged guaranteed of the former parent of the Group in the
amount of approximately EUR 43
million. The Company disputes the validity of this alleged
guarantee, has received two legal opinions that the alleged
guarantee is invalid, and does not believe that the claim linking
the alleged guarantee to the Group has merit.
As part of this litigation, the plaintiff was granted, in the
Cayman Islands, an initially ex
parte (without any notice) freeze order, which, among other things,
restricts the Company from selling or disposing of certain shares
in subsidiaries and other assets, without certain conditions or
approvals being met. This is not a monetary judgment; it
is a freeze order which is only applicable in the Cayman Islands. The Company has
appealed this decision and currently expects the appeal to be heard
in front of a three-judge panel in the second half of
2021.
This freeze order has no implications on our ongoing daily
businesses and we do not currently expect that this litigation will
ultimately result in a material impact on our financial
results. At the same time, we have filed a counterclaim
against the plaintiff in excess of their claims against us.
This counterclaim is not inclusive of other potential damage claims
which we intend to raise in the future.
We currently expect that this litigation, which is in its very
early stages, will not be resolved in the short-term.
Update on the Iron Ore Royalty Interest
As previously announced, in June
2019, the owner of the Scully Mine announced that it had
achieved first production from its restart of the mine. Since
then, the owner has continued its ramp-up of production from the
mine. As a result, we earned CDN$10.8
million in gross royalty income in the first six months of
2020, compared to CDN$5.5 million and
CDN$1.7 million for the full-year in
2019 and 2018, respectively.
Stakeholder Communications
Management welcomes any questions you may have in relation to
this press release, its financial filings or any other matter.
Further:
- stakeholders are encouraged to read the Company's entire annual
report, which includes our audited financial statements and
managements discussion and analysis, for the year ended
December 31, 2019, for a greater
understanding of our business and operations; and
- direct any questions regarding the information in this
report to our North American toll-free line at 1 (844) 331 3343 or
email info@scullyroyalty.com to book a conference call with our
senior management.
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains statements which are, or may be
deemed to be, "forward–looking statements" which are prospective in
nature, including expected business plans and any statements
regarding beliefs, expectations or intentions regarding the
future. Forward-looking statements are not based on historical
facts, but rather on current expectations and projections about
future events, and are therefore subject to risks and uncertainties
which could cause actual results to differ materially from the
future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Often, but not always, forward-looking statements can
be identified by the use of forward-looking words such as "plans",
"expects" or "does not expect", "is expected", "scheduled",
"estimates", "forecasts", "projects", "intends", "anticipates" or
"does not anticipate", or "believes", or variations of such words
and phrases or statements that certain actions, events or results
"may", "could", "should", "would", "might" or "will" be taken,
occur or be achieved. Such statements are qualified in their
entirety by the inherent risks and uncertainties surrounding future
expectations. Such forward-looking statements involve known and
unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause our
actual results, revenues, performance or achievements to be
materially different from any future results, performance or
achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Important factors that could cause our actual results,
revenues, performance or achievements to differ materially from our
expectations include, among other things: (i) commodities price
volatility; (ii) economic and market conditions; (iii) risks
inherent to litigation or the operation of iron ore mines; and (iv)
other factors beyond our control. Such forward-looking
statements should therefore be construed in light of such factors.
Other than in accordance with its legal or regulatory obligations,
the Company is not under any obligation and the Company expressly
disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise. Additional information about these
and other assumptions, risks and uncertainties is set out in the
"Risk Factors" section of our annual report on Form 20-F filed
with the Securities and Exchange Commission and Canadian
securities regulators.
View original
content:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/scully-royalty-ltd-corporate-update-301145648.html
SOURCE Scully Royalty Ltd.