Mineral Resources claims discovery of Chris Ellison secret dealings not price sensitive as ASX keeps probing

Chris Ellison’s lieutenants at Mineral Resources have admitted the company failed to disclose 12 years of rent relief given to companies linked to the billionaire’s daughter. And in response to another query from the Australian Securities Exchange about secret dealings, MinRes has revealed the rent relief provided to Ship Agency Services and Propel Marine were uncovered in the 2022-23 financial year. But in line with other responses to ASX about its secrecy surrounding the uncovering of Mr Ellison’s related party dealings, MinRes has defended not disclosing the rent relief or the recovery of $158,000 from the shipping companies in its annual accounts. “Upon identification, the board considered that the information was not materially price sensitive, particularly given the quantum involved, as well as [MinRes’s] ability to seek repayment,” it told the ASX in a query response released last Thursday. The query related to MinRes’ November 4 statement confirming long-secret dealings between MinRes and Mr Ellison dating back to before the company’s float in 2006, including the funnelling of money through tax haven company Far East Equipment Holdings. MinRes admitted on November 4 that it paid $3.79m to Far East Equipment in 2006 and 2008 in transactions not subject to related party disclosure in its 2006 prospectus or annual reports from 2005-06 to 2007-08. Those dealings were revealed in media reports last month lifting the lid on Mr Ellison last year paying $3.9m to the Australian Taxation Office to settle potential claims over dealings through Far East Equipment. News of the tax office truce has created ASX attention of MinRes’ decision to not disclose these long-secret dealings in its last two annual reports, including the 2023-24 annual report filed on October 21. The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has also launched an investigation. The MinRes board has claimed it did not need to disclose Far East Equipment’s dealings as they were being uncovered because they were not material. MinRes this week ducked questions about why these payments or related liabilities were not disclosed in MinRes’ 2006 prospectus or its annual reports from 2005-06 to 2007-08. It referred to earlier statements that its investigation was ongoing and that no current director, apart from Mr Ellison, was on the MinRes board in the late 2000s. “Excluding the knowledge of Mr Ellison, the present board would be speculating a view as to the reasons disclosure was not made,” it told the ASX on Tuesday. In its latest query response, MinRes said the disclosed related party benefits provided to Mr Ellison included $30m of rent paid to entities linked to Mr Ellison. It said its dealings with Mr Ellison had complied with the ASX listing related to shareholder approval being required for dealings involving 5 per cent or more of a company’s net assets. Company secretary Mark Wilson said the board did not consider the Far East Equipment transaction or other previously secret dealings had affected the fair presentation of “its recent financial statements”. Mr Wilson said MinRes had taken steps over the past two years “to improve the identification and disclosure of related party transactions”.