Myer calls Solomon Lew’s bluff on AGM date

The retailer has called Solomon Lew’s bluff and will not delay its AGM.

Myer has called Solomon Lew’s bluff. Picture: Aaron Francis

Department store Myer has set itself up on a collision course with its largest shareholder, billionaire Solomon Lew, by releasing a statement late on Wednesday night saying that it will hold its annual general meeting on November 4, rebuffing Mr Lew’s demand the shareholders meeting be delayed.

Many hours after the market had closed Myer issued a brief statement to the ASX to confirm its AGM would go ahead in early November.

This means that any nomination of outside directors to the Myer board – which Mr Lew has been planning to do to gain control of the board and sweep out existing directors – must be received by the board no later than 5pm on September 2.

This is likely to further infuriate Mr Lew who earlier this month demanded the Myer board delay the AGM until after its full-year results are released, so he can properly assess its performance.

Mr Lew, whose ASX-listed Premier Investments is Myer’s largest shareholder with a stake of 15.77 per cent, wants the delay so he can pull together a list of credible nominees to put on the Myer board and who can also have time to digest the retailer’s results when they are released in September.

Mr Lew had written to Myer’s acting chair, JoAnne Stephenson, requesting the board delay releasing their notice of meeting, thus giving potential directors an opportunity to assess the latest financial results and its position.

At the time, Mr Lew also issued a threat, warning this month that if what he called a “commonsense” request wasn’t met by Myer to delay its AGM then he would use his 15.8 per cent stake to call an immediate extraordinary general meeting – which would be costly and held close to the AGM – where he would seek to kick out all non-executive Myer directors.

The timing is now more difficult for Mr Lew, and has seen Myer take a more aggressive stance against its biggest shareholder by ignoring his demands for a delay to the AGM and pushing ahead with the date. It tightens the window Mr Lew will have to attract people to become Premier’s nominations for the Myer board, and might rush Mr Lew to speed up his own strategy to grab hold of Myer.

Myer’s constitution requires director nominations to be made by external parties 45 business days (in practical terms, two months) before the AGM. By signalling the AGM date late Wednesday night and requiring nominations within a week, Myer is gambling on two things. The fact that no one can produce nominations within the week. And the likelihood that no reputable company director would consider nominating without seeing the company’s accounts.

A spokesman for Myer declined to comment.