Casablanca Capital Calls On Cliffs Natural To Eliminate "Proxy Put" Threat

(RTTNews) - Casablanca Capital LP, the beneficial owner of approximately 5.2% of Cliffs Natural Resources Inc. (CLF), issued a letter to stockholders underscoring the alignment of its interests with those of all shareholders, reiterating its commitment to driving the real change needed to restore value, and calling on the Cliffs board to eliminate the "Proxy Put" threat disclosed in Cliffs' recent proxy filing.

Despite destruction of value, a majority of the current Cliffs directors, including its chairman, James Kirsch, remain in their seats. Rather than recognizing and addressing the need for fundamental change, the Board, which in the aggregate holds less than 1% of Cliffs' shares, is digging in to protect its own interests at the expense of shareholders, Casablanca Capital said.

Casablanca Capital stated that Lourenco Goncalves, whom Casablanca is nominating to lead Cliffs, is a proven executive who has recently made a personal investment of $1.5 million in Cliffs. Not surprisingly, Kirsch has never invested even one dollar of his own money in Cliffs.

Casablanca said it remains fully committed to driving meaningful change at Cliffs for the benefit of all shareholders. To that end, it has outlined a strategy for restoring value at Cliffs that is focused on the strengths of the Company's core U.S. iron ore assets and have identified a highly qualified slate of six director candidates capable of developing and helping the Company execute such a strategy under the leadership of Goncalves.