Shareholders in logistics company Stobart (STOB) have been drawn into a battle between former CEO Andrew Tinkler and the board by being asked again to support the re-election of chairman Iain Ferguson in a letter.
The FTSE 250 company also defends its dismissal of Tinkler yesterday, stating that it had ‘no alternative’ as his actions, including writing to all employees, ‘threatened to destabilise the company and have put at risk the interests of all shareholders’.
Tinker had previously made clear that he would be voting against the re-election of Ferguson at the company's AGM on 6 July.
Stobart had already urged shareholders to back Ferguson in a letter on 29 May which Tinkler alleges is defamatory. He is suing five directors as a result.
BAD TIMING
This boardroom battle comes on the same week the company reached an agreement with low cost airline Ryanair (RYA) which will see the carrier make a $300m investment into Southend Airport, run by Stobart.
This deal is seen as the brain child of current CEO Warwick Brady, an aviation sector heavyweight and former chief operating officer of EasyJet (EZJ).
A Stobart source confirms that Brady and Ryanair’s chief commercial officer David O’Brien have known each other for some time. The deal could add up to one million extra passengers a year flying from Southend and should aid Brady’s aim of increasing passengers to five million a year by 2022.
CHANGING SHAPE OF THE BOARD
One of the issues Stobart raises is that the business requires a different managerial style to the ‘entrepreneurial approach’ that Tinkler employed during his tenure.
However, Tinkler is supported by two other shareholders who together hold 25.5% of the share capital, one of whom is Neil Woodford of Woodford Investment Management.
Stobart is also pursuing Tinkler for £3.8m plus interest in tax liabities, with one insider saying that he used the company as his own ‘cash machine’. Shares in Stobart are down 3.9% to 256p today as shareholders digest the most recent development in the saga.
