Manganese miner OM Holdings Ltd. (OMH.AU) was backed by shareholders Wednesday over its plans to move its main listing from Australia to Hong Kong, but the outcome of the move remained in doubt after shareholders rejected a related amendment to the company's bye-laws.

More than a third of shareholders came out against five resolutions at the company's annual general meeting, including provisions vocally criticised by the company's largest shareholder, Consolidated Minerals Ltd., or ConsMin.

Just over 35% of shareholders opposed a resolution to issue around $350 million of new shares for the company's planned Hong Kong listing, but the proposal passed on a majority vote. However, a separate resolution to amend the company's bye-laws, requiring 75% support, achieved only 66% and failed.

A person familiar with the company said it wasn't ruling out the possibility that the failure of the resolution could complicate the listing plans: "The company isn't going to make a presumption that there's no impact at all."

However, in a statement, OM Holdings said: "The Company is seeking legal advice as to the impact, if any, of resolution 10 not being passed and its impact on the Hong Kong listing process. In the meantime, in light of shareholders' support for the Hong Kong listing, the company will be continuing with its application to list in Hong Kong."

Consmin and OM Holdings are the largest miners of manganese in Australia after BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP), whose mine on the remote Groote Eylandt in the north of Queensland state is one of the world's largest. Manganese is an essential ingredient in most commercial varieties of steel, making the metal easier to work at high temperatures, and consumption is booming as a result of the rapid industrialisation of emerging economies.

Under OM's dual-listing plans, the company would issue 345 million shares, equivalent to 68% of the current register, at a 20% discount to existing stock, and move its primary listing to Hong Kong.

That plan has been vocally opposed by ConsMin, controlled by Ukrainian billionaire Gennady Bogolyubov, which launched a court action Tuesday in a bid to prevent the annual general meeting going ahead and has announced plans to challenge the make-up of OM's board. Australia's Federal Court rejected ConsMin's injunction but granted a hearing for the case next month.

"ConsMin is not going to sit idly on the sidelines and watch the board of OMH massively dilute existing shareholders through the company's largely unexplained plans to dual list in Hong Kong," Bogolyubov said in a statement last week. "As we see it, OMH is run by the board and for the board and we are not going to watch minority shareholders be significantly disadvantaged yet again."

-By David Fickling, Dow Jones Newswires; +61 2 8272 4689; david.fickling@dowjones.com
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