Mitchells & Butlers To Make Sweeping Boardroom Changes
December 01 2009 - 5:30AM
Dow Jones News
U.K. pub group Mitchells & Butlers PLC (MAB.LN) Tuesday
named senior independent director Simon Laffin as its new Chairman
and said it intends to axe several directors - just one day after
reports of a dramatic boardroom power struggle.
Laffin's appointment as chairman, to succeed Drummond Hall, who
is retiring, follows media reports on Monday alleging that
billionaire investor Joe Lewis, who owns 23% of M&B, is trying
to wrest control of the boardroom and derail the pub group's search
for a new chairman.
Also Tuesday, M&B said Richard McGuire of Piedmont Inc.,
Lewis' investment vehicle, should step down as a director. M&B
said it also intends for Denis Jackson, Ray MacSharry and Douglas E
McMahon to step down as directors.
M&B on Monday that it received a request for the resignation
of senior independent director Laffin, "advising him that if he did
not, a small number of large shareholders would vote against his
election at the January 2010 Annual General Meeting."
M&B also said its nomination committee put forward three
candidates for election as Chairman, "all of whom were vetoed at
the final stage by a nominated representative of Piedmont who had
been involved in the process from its beginning as a member of the
nomination committee."
M&B owns and operates 2,000 pubs in the UK, including pub
chains such as All Bar One, O'Neill's traditional Irish pubs, Crown
Carveries and Harvester. Last week, it reported a net profit for
the 12 months to Sept. 26 of GBP4 million, after a net loss of
GBP176 million a year earlier.
At 1058 GMT, M&B shares were up 5.7% or 14 pence at 267p in
a broadly higher London market.
The company's resilient 2009 performance has seen its shares
gain about 67% since the turn of the year, though they're still
only half the level they were two years ago.
Company Web site: http://www.mbplc.com
-By Quentin Fottrell, Dow Jones Newswires; +353-1-676-2189;
quentin.fottrell@dowjones.com
(Vladimir Guevarra in London contributed to this story.)
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