Shareholder revolt at Speedy Hire
SPEEDY Hire has been forced to call an extraordinary general meeting by its largest shareholder to discuss the removal of its executive chairman.
The Merseyside-based building equipment supplier announced on the stockmarket this morning that it had received a requisition from Toscafund Asset Management, with a proposed resolution that executive chairman Jan Åstrand be ousted. It also requested that David Shearer be appointed to the board.
Toscafund, run by Martin Hughes – also known as “the Rottweiler” because of his aggressive approach to investing – is the largest shareholder in Speedy Hire, with a stake of nearly 20%.
The hedge fund manager has been growing increasingly frustrated at Speedy’s performance and management – the company’s share price has fallen by more than a third over the past year after a series of profit warnings.
The fund manager is unhappy that Astrand appointed himself executive chairman after a stint as chief executive, a move it said was in effect in breach of the corporate governance code.
Hughes has proposed chartered accountant and turnaround specialist Shearer, who started his career at Deloitte and chaired the housebuilder Crest Nicholson during the financial crisis.
He has confirmed that he is willing to join the board of Speedy Hire, according to Toscafund.
In a letter to shareholders Toscafund said: “Toscafund considers that these changes to the Board are necessary to protect and enhance shareholder value at Speedy Hire and enable the management team to move forward with their turnaround plan.”
Martin Hughes, Toscafund’s founder, added: “The decision to call a General Meeting has not been taken lightly. Toscafund takes pride in supporting the businesses in which it invests and invariably votes in favour of their AGM motions. This is the first time in our 16 year history that we have felt compelled to take such action. Now we have made these issues public, we would welcome open dialogue with all other shareholders.”
Earlier this month Speedy Hire upgraded its full-year results forecasts after a decent start to the year, but it has had a long run of profit warnings and boardroom departures.
In May the company announced it was continuing to struggle with exceptional costs wiping out profits and plunging it into a £57.6m loss.
Speedy Hire said it intends to call a general meeting of shareholders in response to the requisition within 21 days.
