Strike notice looms for Link at AGM

Link chairman Michael Carapiet has warned against a second strike action at the takeover target’s upcoming AGM.

Shares in Link, chaired by Michael Carapiet, have languished at about half the 2015 initial public offering price.

Link chairman Michael Carapiet has advised shareholders against voting for a second strike action – one that could see him lose his role – at the company’s upcoming annual meeting, warning of the “expense” and “distraction”.

At the financial services group’s last AGM, some 63.3 per cent of investors lodged a protest vote against the company’s remuneration report, over its various short-term and long-term sweeteners compared with the company’s lacklustre share price.

“Directors unanimously recommend that shareholders vote against Resolution 5 on the basis of the distraction for the company and the substantial additional expense which a spill meeting would cause,” wrote Mr Carapiet in the company’s notice of meeting documents.

Link’s share price has languished at about half its 2015 initial public offering price despite being the subject of four takeover offers in the past two years.

The company’s is currently considering selling a significant portion of its business – Corporate Markets and BCM - to Canada’s Dye & Durham which made an offer of $1.27bn.

Mr Carapiet said the company needed its current board to remain intact. Link’s board had previously recommended a full takeover offer by Dye & Durham of $2.5bn but this proposal collapsed last month.

“The board considers that the board has the right mix of skills and experience, and that changes to the board composition would cause further disruption and inconvenience to the company, when the company needs full focus on meeting the challenges of the current business,” Mr Carapiet said in the AGM notice.

The AGM will be held on November 30 and if more than a quarter of shareholders vote against its remuneration report resolution a board spill meeting will need to be held within 90 days. At its last full year earnings, Link posted a loss from ordinary activities after tax of $67m, which was a 58 per cent improvement on the previous year’s loss.

Link’s corporate markets unit is a share registry business that competes with Computershare For the year to June, it generated 31 per cent of the group’s $1.18bn in total revenue and contributed $54.2m of operating earnings before interest and tax.

The other components of Link include a 43 per cent share of electronic property settlements business Property Exchange Australia, and two other businesses – BCM and super fund administrator Retirement and Superannuation Solutions.

BCM contributes 11 per cent towards Link’s revenue, and it operates mainly in the United Kingdom. RSS generated 53 per cent of the group’s total revenue and $105.9m of operating EBIT.

Link shares rose 0.45 per cent on Thursday to $3.38.