MFS Limited’s largest individual shareholder, retired businessman Chris Scott, is trying to wrest control of the board by appointing himself executive director.
Singapore-based Scott, 60, wrote to shareholders on February 29 with a proposal to appoint himself along with David Burke, Craig Chapman, MFS shareholder Graham Lillyman and former KPMG corporate finance director Craig Wallace as MFS directors.
“The CEO has resigned, the debt position as disclosed to the market was larger and more costly than expected. It is time to change the board by appointing new directors,” Scott wrote.
Scott owns $40 million shares in MFS as a result of the sale of his S8 travel group to MFS in 2006.
Wellington Capital managing director Jenny Hutson and Scott will hold an extraordinary general meeting in Brisbane on April 7.
The move is a further blow to the embattled property group, which is handing out redundancies to staff this week while its shares remain in a trading halt at 99 cents as it scrambles to sell assets and refinance debt.
Former MFS chief Michael King resigned on January 1.
Stella Group managing director Rolf Krecklenberg quit as executive director on March 3 after MFS sold 65 per cent of its stake in the tourism operator for $409.2 million to private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific.
The remaining board members are MFS chief Craig White, MFS chairman and former Liberal Party powerbroker Andrew Peacock, Paul Manka, Barry Cronin and Geoff Williams.
MFS urged shareholders not to take any action in relation to Scott’s proposal and said it was taking legal advice about the validity of the meeting.
“We’re still evaluating the notice we’ve been given,” MFS spokesman John Hurst said.
But Scott said shareholders are backing his actions.
“The support is pretty overwhelming. They’ve lost their life savings,” he said.
