Thursday, November 23, 2006
LSE: Shareholder says talk of EGM to remove board
A shareholder in London Stock Exchange, who owns less than 1% of the company, said this evening that he was having discussions with other shareholders about possibly calling an EGM to remove the board.
The shareholder, a hedge fund, said he believed that calling for an EGM required the support of shareholders owning 10% of LSE's capital, but he and other shareholders were currently trying to get clarification on this from the UK exchange.
LSE was unavailable for comment this evening.
The shareholder, who said the initiative was being headed up by another stockholder, declined to say whether he could speak for shareholders owning 10% of the company’s stock. But he claimed that the move would be a “no-brainer”, bearing in mind the number of hedge funds on the company’s share list and the bullishness of some of the funds involved.
But he added that if LSE stock remained at its current price or rose further, shareholders wanting to unseat LSE’s board were unlikely to get the support they needed from other stockholders.
He described Nasdaq’s claim that its GBP 12.43 a share bid was final as rubbish, claiming that if shareholders contacted Nasdaq calling for a GBP 14 a share offer, LSE CEO Clara Furse would either be forced by shareholders to negotiate or the board would be unseated.
Three other hedge funds owning less than 1% each in LSE told this news service yesterday that they would be pressuring Furse to talk to Nasdaq, while a significant stockholder was more inclined to criticise Nasdaq’s bid.
The shareholder, a hedge fund, said he believed that calling for an EGM required the support of shareholders owning 10% of LSE's capital, but he and other shareholders were currently trying to get clarification on this from the UK exchange.
LSE was unavailable for comment this evening.
The shareholder, who said the initiative was being headed up by another stockholder, declined to say whether he could speak for shareholders owning 10% of the company’s stock. But he claimed that the move would be a “no-brainer”, bearing in mind the number of hedge funds on the company’s share list and the bullishness of some of the funds involved.
But he added that if LSE stock remained at its current price or rose further, shareholders wanting to unseat LSE’s board were unlikely to get the support they needed from other stockholders.
He described Nasdaq’s claim that its GBP 12.43 a share bid was final as rubbish, claiming that if shareholders contacted Nasdaq calling for a GBP 14 a share offer, LSE CEO Clara Furse would either be forced by shareholders to negotiate or the board would be unseated.
Three other hedge funds owning less than 1% each in LSE told this news service yesterday that they would be pressuring Furse to talk to Nasdaq, while a significant stockholder was more inclined to criticise Nasdaq’s bid.
