By Michiel Willems
In a disagreement over the company’s future, the chairman of an investment fund founded by Brooklyn Beckham’s father-in-law has been ousted by rebel shareholders.
A small majority of investors voted for a motion to remove Chris Sherwell from his position on the Trian Investors 1 board.
“At a requisitioned EGM (extraordinary general meeting) of the company, the resolution to remove Chris Sherwell as a director was passed,” the investment fund said.
“The company thanks Sherwell for his contributions and wishes him well for the future.”
Investors with a large portion of the shares had already said they disagreed with parts of the company’s future planning.
‘Not fit for purpose’
In a letter to investors last month, the rebels accused the board of not being fit for purpose.
They called for the removal of Sherwell and two other directors.
Their wish came true when a little over 50.7 per cent of votes were cast against the chairman continuing in his role.
However, the other directors – Anita Rival and Simon Holden – narrowly escaped being ousted with 49.6% of shareholders voting for their removal, slightly shy of the 50 per cent needed.
After the vote, the company said: “We note that Simon Holden, Mark Thompson and Anita Rival will continue to serve as directors of the company and that Robert Legget joins the board.
“We also thank our outgoing chairman Chris Sherwell for his leadership and many contributions to the company since the IPO (initial public offering) and wish him well for the future.
“The board expects to provide shareholders with an update no later than at the time of the interim results due to be announced in September.”
Trian Investors 1 was co-founded by Nelson Peltz, an activist investor whose daughter Nicola is married to David and Victoria Beckham’s eldest son.
Peltz recently joined the board of food and consumer goods giant Unilever. Analysts speculated at the time that the appointment of the activist could bring a shake-up to the company.
He was previously credited with helping to turn around the fortunes of Procter & Gamble.
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