A former minister within the New Zealand National Party-led Government, Steven Joyce, has been nominated to replace NZME chairman Barbara Chapman at the Australia and New Zealand listed publisher and broadcaster.
Mr Joyce was the former Minister of Communications and Information Technology and is a former broadcasting entrepreneur, reaping a fortune through his Radioworks venture.
The Australia and New Zealand listed company issued a statement on Tuesday, outlining new director nominations at its annual general meeting on June 3 that was originally slated for April and that comes after shareholders planned to sack the board on the back of poor performance.
It has eight nominations.
US hedge fund Osminum Partners that holds 6.57 per cent of the company wants to nominate two directors from its company, Adam Hoydysh and John Lewis, while private equity tycoon James Grenon, who holds almost 10 per cent and led the charge to sack the board, is nominating himself, lawyer and media commentator Philip Crump, Caniwi Capital’s Des Gittings and New Zealand governance adviser Henri Eliot.
Mr Grenon has put forward a proposal to remove all directors.
Shareholder Louis Jackson Joseph has nominated himself, and Mrs Chapman’s husband, Stephen Donoghue-Cox, nominated Mr Joyce.
The nomination of Mr Joyce came after investor pressure for change, and if he is nominated, Ms Chapman would depart, following director David Gibson out the door.
Other nominations by NZME are technology expert Bowen Pan, while the company proposes Carol Campbell and Guy Horrocks would remain and Sussan Turner was considering her position.
The $200m Australia and New Zealand listed broadcaster and publisher is already working with Jarden on a possible demerger of its One Roof online real estate business, and the board hired UBS to defend against shareholder activism.
Shareholders have been unhappy with what they believe are excessive corporate costs, including the $NZ2m annual pay of chief executive Michael Boggs at a time of poor performance and losses.
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