Joe Lewis, the billionaire investor engaged in a bar room brawl with Mitchells & Butlers, fired a warning shot across the bows of the M&B board yesterday as he promised to resist its efforts to weaken his position.
Piedmont, the vehicle through which he holds 23 per cent of M&B, issued a statement dismissing “a number of assertions” made by the board this week as “without foundation” and issued a thinly veiled threat to take action at January’s annual meeting. In its first formal statement since the spat became public on Monday, it said that it had “at no stage acted to undermine the independence or effectiveness of the board” and had not called for the resignation of Simon Laffin, the senior independent director who on Tuesday was elevated to chairman.
The statement does not address the pub company’s claim, made to the Takeover Panel, that Piedmont was working as a concert party with Elpida, the investment vehicle of JP McManus and John Magnier, the horse racing magnates who own 17.5 per cent of M&B. However, a person close to Piedmont said: “It’s a panel matter, but they have never acted in concert with anybody.”
The insider refused to comment on Piedmont’s next move, although in its statement Piedmont said that it “expects that shareholders will have an opportunity to decide on candidates [as independent directors] at the forthcoming annual meeting”.
This is being seen as a threat that it could seek to block any M&B candidates at January’s meeting, including the reappointment of Mr Laffin as chairman, and put forward a candidate of its own.
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The Piedmont insider said: “It would be premature to talk about such move, though clearly it is an option.”
On Tuesday, M&B said that it would be ousting Piedmont’s two representatives on the board, together with two further directors it believed to be associated with the rebel shareholders — a process expected to be completed and confirmed to the Stock Exchange this morning.
But despite the board removals, Piedmont said it “believes strongly in the prospects of the company and remains an active and engaged investor”. The insider said that the statement was “a warning shot to the board not to disregard shareholders”, adding: “They’re not going to go away quietly.”
The source also dismissed suggestions that it was seeking to persuade the board to consider alternative ways of unlocking value from its £4.5 billion assets. He said that Piedmont had no issue with the group’s operational performance, but was concerned about boardroom accountability and transparency.