The Dominion Post newspaper today quoted one of the shareholders, Graeme Bulling, as saying he was putting two resolutions to Contact’s October 19 annual meeting in Auckland for the directors to recover the money “by whatever means they can”.
He wanted Contact directors to recover the money from Origin or have their fees cut by $500,000 a year until the $8.7 million was recovered. Contact’s annual director’s fees total $770,000.
Bulling, who is from Auckland, said Contact’s independent directors – Phil Pryke, Tim Saunders and John Milne – should have known the merger would never succeed, as it was not supported by minority shareholders.
Contact spokesman Jonathan Hill confirmed Bulling’s resolutions would be included with the company’s notice of meeting and added to resolutions from the Shareholders’ Association, which wants Contact’s independent directors dumped, and others from institutional investor Brook Asset Management, which wants Contact chief executive David Baldwin to cut ties with Origin.
In June, Contact and Origin abandoned their controversial merger to create one of Australasia’s largest integrated energy groups with a combined market capitalisation of about $8 billion, citing a lack of support from key Contact shareholders. Origin, a 51.4% owner of Contact, also refused to improve the terms of its offer to Contact minority shareholders.
