answers to tough questions, page-50

I spoke to Brian Conrick this afternoon. Here is an update:

1 - I couldn't get a straight answer on why we got an announcement about NDRC approval instead of the credit term sheet, when Sundance first found out Hanlong would miss the January 31st deadline and why shareholdeds weren't immediately informed - just a long commentary on how complicated the whole process is.

NDRC approval ran out at the end of January which is why they now need it to be extended. It also appears the NDRC approval and CDB funding are tied to some extent (e.g. the CDB won't provide the term sheet until the NDRC extends approval) but he wasn't able to tell me how exactly, just that it is complicated.

In short - Hanlong still don't have the money.

2 - I asked why the timeline was extended so much - the answer was essentially because it is a complicated situation and so they are trying to be conservative. However, I got a strong impression that it is also because they have very little idea what is actually happening and what the exact process of approvals involves (see point 5).

3 - There will be an update before the market opens Monday. He wouldn't commit to better or more regular updates going forward. In fact, he completely failed to understand why I was even asking for more regular updates because as far as he was concerned they were already making plenty of announcements.

4 - On the issue of shareholder disclosure - his view is that they have met their obligations in this regard. I pushed him on it a little and he didn't like it. He was very insistent that they haven't broken any rules - they have disclosed everything that they should have disclosed as soon as they knew about it. I am not convinced at all - I still think they are deliberately keeping shareholders in the dark.

5 - I got the impression that Sundance has very little idea what is actually going on. I don't think they are anywhere near as across this as they should be. It looks like to a certain extent they are just sitting on the sidelines and waiting for Hanlong, the NDRC and CDB to give them updates. This is extremely troubling.

6 - He said they are not focusing exclusively on the takeover. They have lots of people dedicated to pursing other avenues. He didn't provide an explanation for why shareholders haven't been kept in the loop on these activities.

7. When I asked about why we were finding out about delays in the media before company announcement he claimed those updates were based on sources that weren't credible and therefore couldn't be trusted - which of course doesn't explain why they were always correct. (see point 4)

8 - According to him they have done the rounds with other credible players in the industry and have also had people approach them, but to date none have shown interest in pulling the trigger. He didn't comment on whether or not a counter-bid is still a possibility.