Weiss eyes Cromwell board after Ridley exit

The battle for Cromwell Property is sharpening, with dissident board candidate Gary Weiss to step down from Ridley Corporation.

Corporate raider Gary Weiss. Picture: Adam Head

The battle for Cromwell Property is sharpening, with corporate raider Gary Weiss, who has again been put forward for the board by dissident shareholder ARA Asset Management, to step down from the listed Ridley Corporation.

Objections to his candidacy by proxy houses have diminished since last year when they said he had too many board seats, and his bid for the board narrowly failed.

In a potential blow to the incumbent board, now led by Leon Blitz, Melbourne-based adviser Ownership Matters is now supporting the election of Dr Weiss to the Cromwell board.

The rationale behind the decision is that Dr Weiss’s election would not amount to a “takeover by stealth” as he would only account for 14 per cent of the board and ARA, as a 23.6 per cent shareholder, should have a seat.

The fight comes to a head at an extraordinary general meeting at the end of March in Melbourne. Cromwell’s incumbent board is not going down without a fight as it sees ARA as a direct competitor.

Dr Weiss is a director of the ARA-linked Straits Trading Company in Singapore but has said he will stand down if elected. He plans to retire from Ridley’s board at the end of June after 10 years as a non-executive director and five years as chairman.

But Dr Weiss faces significant challenges as chairman of Ardent Leisure, owner of Dreamworld, which is under pressure.

Cromwell has told shareholders it opposes his election and has pointed to links between ARA and major Singapore-based shareholders the Tang family.

Cromwell CEO Paul Weightman said the company was pushing back against ARA’s move for a board seat as it amounted to a “takeover by stealth”.

ARA has shot back, criticising Cromwell’s interim results, saying underlying operating profit of $134.1m was inflated by deals including a one-off $32m development fee relating to Northpoint Tower development and a $20.7m promotional fee.