SII Sprott Inc

TORONTO, July 13 /CNW/ -- TORONTO, July 13 /CNW/ - (TSX: SII) - Sprott Inc. ("Sprott" or the "Company") is pleased to announce that Peter Grosskopf has agreed to join the Company as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of the Company's Board of Directors, effective September 7, 2010. Mr. Grosskopf will also serve as President and Chief Executive Officer of Sprott Resource Lending Corp. (currently Quest Capital Corp. ("Quest")), which, subject to the approval of Quest's shareholders, will be managed by Sprott Consulting LP ("Sprott Consulting") or an affiliate thereof. The appointment of Mr. Grosskopf demonstrates how Sprott continues to attract top investment talent to the Company. At Sprott, Mr. Grosskopf will be responsible for developing and implementing its overall strategy with the objectives of maximizing shareholder value and benefitting investors in Sprott managed investment products. He will also strengthen the business activities of Sprott Consulting using his capital markets experience. Kevin Bambrough will continue in his role as President of Sprott Inc. where he will focus on new investment strategies and supporting Mr. Grosskopf in corporate and business development activity. Mr. Bambrough will also remain as CEO of Sprott Consulting where he will be responsible for leading its operations and growth. In conjunction with the appointment of Mr. Grosskopf to the Sprott Inc. Board of Directors, Eric Sprott will assume the position of Chairman of Sprott Inc. and Chief Investment Officer of Sprott Asset Management LP. The current Chairman of Sprott Inc. Jack Lee will serve as Lead Director, while Peter Hodson, Senior Portfolio Manager at Sprott Asset Management LP, will be stepping down from the Board at this time. Mr. Hodson remains lead Portfolio Manager for the Sprott Growth Fund and Chairman of Sprott Asset Management LP. The Board wishes to thank Mr. Hodson for his service as a director of Sprott Inc. and looks forward to his continued input as a valued member of the Sprott investment management team. "I am extremely pleased to have Peter Grosskopf succeed me as CEO of Sprott," said Mr. Sprott. "Peter has the skills and experience necessary to manage the Company's growth initiatives. He will be instrumental in helping to build both new and existing businesses, expanding and strengthening our investment management team, establishing new global relationships and capitalizing on other strategic opportunities. Peter will also provide additional depth to our executive management team and allow me to further focus on my role as Chief Investment Officer of Sprott Asset Management LP and Portfolio Manager for a number of our funds." "I have had the opportunity to work closely with Peter over the years on various transactions and am pleased to have been able to help recruit him to Sprott," said Mr. Bambrough. "In particular, Peter's advisory expertise and industry contacts will prove invaluable in accelerating the growth and expanding the service offerings of Sprott Consulting, the increasingly important merchant banking division of Sprott." Mr. Grosskopf has over 23 years of experience in the Canadian financial services industry. He has a proven track record of building and growing businesses. Most recently, he was President of Cormark Securities Inc. ("Cormark"). Prior to joining Cormark, Mr. Grosskopf was one of the co-founders of Newcrest Capital Inc., which was acquired by the TD Bank Financial Group in 2000. Mr. Grosskopf has extensive experience as an advisor and underwriter to companies in a wide variety of sectors. "I am delighted to rejoin Eric Sprott and his team at this exciting time as the Company continues to evolve its product offerings," said Mr. Grosskopf. "The Sprott brand is highly regarded in Canada for its outstanding investment management capabilities and unparalleled track record. The Company is recognized globally for its investing expertise within the natural resources sector. I am excited by the challenge of capitalizing on this platform by growing the Company into a leading global performance-based money manager." In recognition of Mr. Grosskopf's past accomplishments in the financial services industry and to acknowledge the future contributions of Mr. Grosskopf and Mr. Bambrough to the Company, Eric Sprott has personally agreed to fund a deferred share incentive program through his personal holding company ("Holdco"). The program will provide Mr. Grosskopf with five million common shares of Sprott Inc. held by Holdco over the next three years, and Mr. Bambrough with three million common shares of Sprott Inc. also over the next three years. With this transfer of eight million common shares of Sprott Inc., Holdco's ownership stake will be reduced by approximately 8%. Conference Call and Webcast A conference call and webcast will be held on Wednesday, July 14, 2010, at 9:00am ET to discuss this announcement. The call will be hosted by Eric Sprott, Chairman of Sprott Inc., and Kevin Bambrough, President of Sprott Inc. To access the call, please dial 647-427-7450 or 1-888-231-8191 ten minutes prior to the scheduled start of the call. A taped replay of the conference call will be available until Wednesday, July 21, 2010 by calling 416-849-0833 or 1-800-642-1687, reference number 88009719. A live audio webcast of the conference call will be available through www.sprottinc.com. Participants will require Windows Media Player(TM) to listen to the webcast. Forward-Looking Statements This release contains "forward-looking statements" which reflect the current expectations of the Company. These statements reflect management's current beliefs with respect to future events and are based on information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements involve significant known and unknown risks, uncertainties and assumptions. Many factors could cause actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements that may be expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements including, without limitation, those listed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual information form dated March 30, 2010. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should assumptions underlying the forward-looking statements prove incorrect, actual results, performance or achievements could vary materially from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in this release. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this release are based upon what the Company believes to be reasonable assumptions, the Company cannot assure investors that actual results, performance or achievements will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date of this release and the Company does not assume any obligation to update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances. About Sprott Inc. Sprott Inc. is a leading independent asset manager dedicated to achieving superior returns for its clients over the long term. The company currently operates through three distinct business units: Sprott Asset Management LP, Sprott Private Wealth LP and Sprott Consulting LP. Sprott Asset Management LP is the investment manager of the Sprott family of mutual funds and hedge funds and discretionary managed accounts; Sprott Private Wealth LP provides wealth management services to high net worth individuals; and Sprott Consulting LP provides management, administrative and consulting services to other companies, including SRC (TSX: SCP). Sprott Inc. is headquartered in Toronto, Canada, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol "SII". For more information on Sprott Inc., please visit www.sprottinc.com. Investor contact information: (416) 203-2310 or 1 (877) 403-2310 or ir@sprott.com

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