Activism
Boardroom shake-up at Spirent Communications
Three institutional investors, led by US investment firm
Sherborne Investors, ousted the
chairman and two other non-executive directors at technology company,
Spirent Communications.
At an EGM last month there was 55% support among the shares voted for the
removal of the directors while the appointment of Edward Bramson and Ian Brindle
as new directors received about 63% of shares voted. Gerard Eastman and
Alexander Walkman were voted in with 55% and 54% support respectively.
Two other existing non-executive directors also resigned from Spirent's
board, including the senior independent director, Marcus Beresford.
Spirent had mounted a fierce defence against Sherborne,
Artemis Investment Management and
Credit Suisse Asset Management.
The previous board had argued that the director nominations were an attempt by
Sherborne to gain control with paying a premium and that it had already taken
necessary action to turn the company around and Sherborne's claimed turnaround
expertise was not relevant to its business. The composition of the new board, it
argued, would also not comply with high corporate governance standards.
Links
Sherborne Investors
Spirent Communications
Artemis Investment Management
Credit Suisse Asset Management
January, 2007 |
