LONDON – Shareholders voted for four new board members at Russian-focused gold miner Petropavlovsk (POG.L) on Thursday, ousting Peter Hambro who has run the company since he founded it in 1994. Rebel shareholders, holding around 40 percent of the company, backed nominees to replace four out of six of the board at Petropavlovsk, including Hambro, Hambro said.
The new appointments include Bruce Buck, who is chairman of Chelsea Football Club, and Vladislav Egorov, who works for Renova, Russian billionaire Viktor Vekselberg’s conglomerate. Speaking after the annual general meeting at a city lawyers’ offices on the banks of the Thames in London, Peter Hambro said he could not disguise his disappointment.
But he hoped “with all my heart” the new board would build on progress he said the company had made. “I will enjoy my new role as an ordinary shareholder and in it I shall advocate for a continuation of the same transparency, diligence and good corporate governance that I believe we achieved at Petropavlovsk,” he said.
In an initial report, shareholder adviser ISS recommended against supporting any of the proposals from rebel shareholders, but last week, it issued revised advice, saying it had received additional information.
However, ISS only recommended backing two of the dissidents’ nominees — namely, Garrett Soden, who has worked for the Lundin group of companies for a decade, and Ian Ashby, nominated to be chairman.
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