A showdown between the Endeavour board and the company’s largest shareholder, billionaire activist Bruce Mathieson, had everything but fisticuffs.
Threats, abuse, condemnation and accusations. It might sound like a pub brawl, but it was a theatrical showdown between the shareholders and the board atIt had everything but fisticuffs and included a cast of corporate characters including former Woolworths chief executive and Fairfax Media chair Roger Corbett.But the most important thing is that this annual general meeting was only a warm-up.
So hell-bent on the fight were Mathieson and arch nemesis Hearl, they were both prepared to weaponise confidential information to further their respective causes.For example, Mathieson’s spokesperson stood before shareholders and divulged that Endeavour’s chief executive, Steven Donohue, had contacted the billionaire to sound him out about buying Endeavour’s pub empire. That information is extremely sensitive and could suggest the hotel business or Endeavour requires some radical change.
“You need to go forthwith. I call for your immediate resignation,” Corbett declared to Hearl, adding that if the Endeavour chairman only thought that the company’s problems were minor then “you indeed become the problem”. He must also understand that Mathieson has been garnering the support of other large shareholders who were not prepared to support Wavish but, like Mathieson, are concerned about the performance of Endeavour and want changes.
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