Companies

Briefs

ABN Amro, the bank facing competing bids from Barclays and a Royal Bank of Scotland-led (RBS) consortium, has been ordered by a Dutch court to put the sale of its LaSalle subsidiary to a shareholder vote. Prior to this ABN had agreed to sell LaSalle to Bank of America. RBS's proposed €38.40 per share bid is dependent on LaSalle remaining within the ABN group. ABN has filed an appeal against the court's ruling.

Carl Icahn, the activist investor, appears to have failed in his bid to be elected to the board of Motorola. The US communications company said that based on an estimate of votes cast, it appears shareholders have re-elected the incumbent board and not elected Icahn. Final results are set to be released within the next few weeks.

Icahn has accused the Motorola’s management of a lack of engagement and oversight, and claimed the company has lost over $20bn in shareholder value since last October.

The entire board of Ukraine Opportunity Trust has resigned ahead of a 25 May EGM at which shareholders would have voted on proposals to dismiss them. The outgoing board said there had been a breakdown in the mutual confidence between it and the trust’s managers that is essential to the smooth running of the firm. The board added that in resigning it was accepting the current views of a majority of the trust’s shareholders.

The trust will co-opt the board members proposed by the activist shareholders. Miles Morland, proposed chairman of the new board, is founder of Blakeney Management, a fund manager dedicated to investment in inefficient stock markets.

Eurotunnel shareholders have turned out in unprecedented numbers to approve the channel tunnel operator’s restructuring plan, saving the company from bankruptcy. Provisional results indicate 87% of the share capital has supported the deal, which will see investors exchanging shares in Eurotunnel for stock in a new company, Groupe Eurotunnel.

Jacques Gounon, Eurotunnel chairman and chief executive, said: “Eurotunnel is saved. I would like to sincerely thank shareholders who have shown their strong support for the safeguard plan … It enables Eurotunnel to have a fresh start”.

Duncan Soukup, a non-executive director and shareholder of CSS Stellar, is attempting to oust fellow board members of the AIM-listed talent agency. Soukup has demanded an EGM to seek the removal of all directors in office at the time of the meeting – including chief executive Sean Kelly and chairman Peter Owen - save for himself. He is also seeking the election to the board of Graham Cole and James Grossman.

Biovail, the Canada-based pharmaceutical company, has been accused by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of violating federal securities laws in its accounting and disclosure practices. The SEC’s Wells Notice relates to Biovail’s 2003 accounts, and covers such issues as whether the company improperly recognised revenue and expenses, and whether it made misleading disclosures over the reasons for it forecasting a revenue shortfall in the September quarter of 2003.

Compass, the catering company, has doubled its £500m share buy-back as a result of selling its European vending business, Selecta, for £772.5m. The buy-back, now totalling £1bn, is expected to take place over the next 12–18 months.

June 2007