Battle lines drawn for bitter boardroom stoush at Dan Murphy’s owner Endeavour

The stage is set for a bitter boardroom showdown at Dan Murphy’s and ALH pubs operator Endeavour Group, with the group’s largest shareholder, Bruce Mathieson Snr, and former Woolworths chief executive Roger Corbett throwing their support behind retail veteran Bill Wavish to be elected as a director of the company.

The push to elevate Wavish to the board has laid bare simmering tensions over the performance and strategy of Australia’s largest pokies and pubs operator. Mathieson, who owns a 15 per cent stake in the business, did not hold back on Tuesday when he said that he believed Endeavour’s performance under chairman Peter Hearl and chief executive Steve Donohue had been “an absolute disaster”.

Billionaire Bruce Mathieson says Bill Wavish should be elected to the board of Endeavour.Credit: Arsineh Houspian

It’s been more than two years since Endeavour Group floated as a standalone ASX-listed company after a demerger from Woolworths, and the company’s market capitalisation has lost more than $4 billion over the past 12 months. Shares were down by more than 13 per cent since listing on Wednesday afternoon.

Endeavour’s decision to implement Victoria’s looming pokies reforms 10 months early has particularly displeased its largest shareholder, with Mathieson claiming the move risked costing the company “millions and millions of dollars”.

Wavish, who was formerly an executive chairman at Myer and served in executive positions at Woolworths between 1999 and 2006, said the Endeavour board needed to include a “a broader
range of expertise and capabilities” to help reset the company’s direction.

He has pointed to issues with the company’s cost base and balance sheet, and said an urgent review of capital expenditure is critical.

Former Woolworths boss Corbett has thrown his weight behind Wavish’s candidacy. “I have never spoken publicly about Woolworths [or Endeavour] since I retired, but I feel strongly enough to say something now,” he said.

“When Endeavour was de-merged they [Woolworths] said it would be a very good deal for shareholders, but when you look at the Endeavour share price, it wasn’t a very good deal at all.”

Corbett said the group’s drinks retail chain Dan Murphy’s “is a shadow of what it used to be”. He said the liquor division had been slowly deteriorating for years but had “certainly got much, much worse under Endeavour”.

“Bill is the best financial CFO I have ever worked with. He has skills in diagnosing the issues using numbers,” Corbett said. He noted that as a shareholder: “I don’t like to see Endeavour go downhill.”

Endeavour Group told investors in documents for the company’s annual general meeting that it was advising they vote against the nomination of Wavish. Given the timing of his nomination, “the board is not in a position to determine whether it is in the best interests of Endeavour for Mr Wavish to be elected as a director of Endeavour”, the company said.

The business said Wavish would need to pass regulatory approvals in order to stand for election at October’s meeting, and noted that he had declined to participate in the company’s formal director search.

“As at the date of completing this notice of meeting, there has not been sufficient time since receiving Mr Wavish’s nomination on August 28, 2023, for the board to complete the customary processes it undertakes in selecting and appointing directors, including the associated probity assessments, in relation to Mr Wavish,” Endeavour said.

But one current director will be backing him: the annual general meeting documents show Bruce Mathieson jnr, who is currently on Endeavour’s board, believes Wavish is a “qualified and suitable candidate”.

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