Lew repeats lying claim in Myer battle

Solomon Lew has repeated his incendiary line that incoming Myer chairman Garry Hounsell lied to shareholders.

Premier Investments chairman Solomon Lew. Picture: David Caird.

A fortnight before Myer’s annual general meeting, tension between the board and its biggest shareholder, billionaire Solomon Lew, has intensified again with Mr Lew repeating his incendiary line that incoming Myer chairman Garry Hounsell lied to shareholders.

Mr Lew wrote to all Myer shareholders yesterday to warn them that Mr Hounsell had lied to them in a letter he wrote last week, defending the Myer turnaround.

Mr Lew, through his Premier Investments fashion conglomerate, accused Mr Hounsell of being a liar a number of times last week over his claims that he was once approached to become the chairman of Premier Investments.

Mr Hounsell told The Australian last week he was talking to his lawyers over a possible defamation action.

But Mr Lew did not hold back in his letter sent to shareholders yesterday.

“On behalf of Premier Investments I am writing to respond to the letter you will have received from Mr Garry Hounsell, the chairman-designate of Myer dated 6 November.

“I don’t like to use such language, but there is no other way to say it accurately — Mr Hounsell has lied to you on several points in that letter.”

Mr Lew described Mr Hounsell’s claim he was approached by the Premier board to be chairman of the $2.1 billion Premier group as “fanciful”.

“This is a fabrication, and has been denied by the Premier board.

“I am the chairman of Premier, and I own a substantial stake in the company so why would I want to hand it over to a person like Mr Hounsell?’’ Mr Lew writes in his letter.

He also denies Mr Hounsell’s claim that in a meeting Mr Lew proposed three directors be appointed to the Myer board but refused to supply their names.

“At my one and only-ever meeting with Mr Hounsell on October 6, I told him the names of all three directors proposed by Premier, setting out the reasons why we believe each of them would add to the board’s ability to turn Myer around.

“Each nominee was chosen to match precise issues Premier believes Myer needs to urgently address.”

At that meeting Mr Lew proposed two directors of Premier to join the Myer board, former Myer Grace Bros boss Terry McCartney and former banker Tim Antonie, as well as the chief investment officer and head of strategy for Abacus Property Group, Steven Sewell.

A Myer spokesman said Mr Lew’s letter was “just more of the same from Mr Lew” and denied the “offensive comments” about Mr Hounsell in the letter.

“The Myer team is getting on with the important Christmas trading period. Myer’s board recommends shareholders disregard Mr Lew’s correspondence and vote in favour of the board’s nominees at next week’s AGM.”