Activist investor Sherborne Investors has served the Electra Private Equity investment trust with a requisition to hold a general meeting, in a bid to appoint Edward Bramson and Ian Brindle to Electra’s board.
The move marks the second time Electra Private Equity has been approached by Sherborne to achieve board representation, after a general meeting was requisitioned by the firm in August 2014 as part of a campaign to improve the trust’s performance.
At a meeting held in October last year, resolutions proposing the election of Mr Bramson and Mr Brindle to the board were rejected by shareholders.
Sherborne, which has a 30 per cent stake in Electra, is seeking to appoint Mr Brindle - formerly the UK chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers - and Mr Bramson, a partner in Sherborne Investors.
The trust said: “The latest requisition follows confirmation given to Mr Bramson that the board of Electra remains unanimous in continuing to oppose his and Mr Brindle’s appointment to the board.
“The board of Electra remains convinced that the interests of all shareholders are best served by the combination of a board that is wholly non-executive and independent of any significant shareholder, together with the continuing management of the portfolio by Electra Partners on an exclusive and wholly discretionary basis.”
In the same statement, Electra released a letter sent to Mr Bramson in August this year which stated why it opposed Sherborne’s requisition.
Chairman Roger Yates said he believed “a departure from the wholly non-executive and independent board risks destabilising the current successful partnership between the board and Electra Partners”.
Also stated in the letter is Electra’s belief that it does not require “an operating turnaround” at either board or individual level.
But Sherborne said in its own letter to Electra that senior independent director Kate Barker and other board members had been “much more forthcoming” since then and “moreover, they have indicated that the board could, in principle, waive its self-imposed requirement for all directors to be independent of shareholders”.
Electra will send a notice to its shareholders convening a general meeting.
Mr Bramson previously served as chairman at F&C Asset Management after a similar boardroom struggle.
