Asia investor activism set to grow after BlackRock public campaign

Hong Kong

FOLLOWING a rare public campaign, BlackRock Inc voted against a deal planned by a Hong Kong firm that the world's biggest asset manager partly owns, revving up investor activism in Asia after it roared ahead in 2015.

In a ballot on Tuesday, BlackRock rejected G-Resources Group Ltd's plan to sell its main asset, an Indonesian gold mine, saying it didn't have confidence G-Resources would use the proceeds in investors' best interests. Owning 8 per cent of G-Resources, BlackRock urged other shareholders to follow suit.