Expert: Steven Taylor - 8/19/2009

Question
My father bought 1,000 shares of Canada Tungsten back in 1963.  He still has the shares (the actual certificates) but lost track of the company after it shut down (but did not go bankrupt) in 1968 or 1969.  Equisearch sent him a letter recently saying that  they could get him compensation for his shares in the amount of $6400.  I called and they said his 1,000 sh of Canada Tungsten are now 769 sh of Teck Cominco (TCK).  My own research shows that Canada Tungsten's assets went through several buyouts but the trail went cold in the mid-'80s.  I've tried tracking down the Transfer Agent on the original shares with no luck - they went out of business long ago.  I'm averse to paying Equisearch for something my father already paid for once.  I'll call TCK directly, but are there other avenues I should pursue?

Answer
David, I believe that information is correct. Canadian Tungsten was acquired by Aur on the basis of 1 share of Aur for every 4.5 shares of Canadian Tungsten. Aur was later acquired by Teck Cominco on the basis of 0.8749 Class B of Teck plus 1 cent for every share of Aur.

In the United States, there is actually an SEC requirement that Transfer Agents must conduct searches for lost or missing shareholders. Chances are that Equisearch was hired by Teck's transfer agent to find your father and other lost shareholders immediately after the Aur merger. Even though Teck is a Canadian company, they are registered with the SEC, so your father obtains the benefit of the US regulations. Based on what you wrote, it appears your father received that letter some time ago - Teck Cominco dropped the Cominco portion of the name in 2008 and returned to its original "Teck Resources". If he contacted Equisearch, they would likely just refer your father to the transfer agent, anyway, since that is what they were hired to do. Teck's agent is Mellon, who you can find at www.melloninvestor.com. Based on my information, if your father had 1000 Canadian Tungsten, he would now have 194 Teck Class B, which is currently worth about $4850.