Joe Rotman

"It was small but it was very interesting. I remember Brian Meikle saying, “Here are these seven thousand acres. If you stood on this piece of ground, on one side is Newmont’s big Genesis mine producing about 4 million ounces, and 180 degrees up the valley there is the Bootstrap and Dee mines, producing probably another 2 million ounces of gold.” Goldstrike was a little “Ma and Pa” organization running on a shoestring with a lot of haywire, but they were making reasonable money at it. I talked to Joe Rotman and said, “Joe, if we could buy Western States would you be willing to sell your halfe” and he said, “Sure.” And that’s when I went to Peter and said, “Let’s take a crack at this.”"

"The following are some of my specifics for urging action now, with top priority, on the Apex deal: ¢ It is not a hostile but, on the contrary, a friendly transac- tion. At this size (or even at a fraction of its size) we have always agreed that Horsham could not cope with a hostile transaction. There are not many “friendly” ones of this size out there. ° While it is a very large deal, it is yet one that can be done by “not betting the farm,” i.e. at risk is about $40 million of Horsham’s funds, which we can easily cover by selling that many shares to new investors—in the wake of the deal! ¢ — It is a deal we are buying out of the bankruptcy courts which, to my instincts, always represented best “values.” ¢ — It is a deal in which we have a strong “inside track.” | can’t think of any other transaction of this magnitude offering us this vital advantage. ¢ — It is a deal in an industry presently in its bottom cycle. Big money was always made by acquisitions at the low point of a cycle. ¢ It is a transaction that—if it works out well—by its very scope would truly transform Horsham and, as such, is surely worth the effort. ¢ — It is acquiring a “real operation” with its own cash flows from the very start, and its own assets to be geared up—if needed—later for new deals! ¢ It is a transaction in an industry in which we have a num- ber of friends to help, or join, us. (Peter Bijur, Joe Rotman, the K.I.O., the Venezuelans, etc. just to mention a few that come to mind). Owning Apex will allow us to deal and work with these groups. 245"