A tender for the privatization of Romanian company Cupru Min has been won officially by Canadian company Roman Copper Inc., but the whole process came to a standstill over the past several days, with Roman Copper saying it was trying to push for a deal despite the Romanian government pulling out of negotiations. But who is behind Roman Copper, about which it was only known that investment bank Bayfront Capital Partners was among its founders? According to HotNews.ro sources, Roman Copper covers another Canadian company founded by a US citizen and a Canadian citizen living in Romania since the nineties.

The company is Valhalla Resources, founded by Stacy Quinney and Joel Hayes. Quinney was reported in the past to have had business connections with Romanian oil, real estate and media mogul Dinu Patriciu. Valhalla Resources is listed at the Toronto exchange and runs natural resources projects in Romania and Turkey.Contacted by HotNews.ro, Stacy Quinney would only say it was "too sensitive a subject" he couldn't comment.

According to HotNews.ro sources, Roman Copper Inc., the winner of the Cupru Min tender, is an SPV formed of Bayfront Capital Partners and Valhalla Resources. A Bayfront spokesperson told HotNews.to the investment bank was the sole shareholder in Roman Copper.

Shortly after HotNews.ro published this report in its Romanian-language version on Tuesday, a Roman Copper representative who had initially denied the involvement of Valhalla in the company announced that Joel Hayes and Stacy Quinney, the founders with executive powers in Valhalla, were named in the top management of Roman Copper. Joel Hayes became President and Stacy Quinney - executive vice-president of Roman Copper, while Michael Williams - who also serves as president at Valhalla Resources - was named head of the Roman Copper board.

Valhalla Resources was on