Aryzta has an Irish director again, after a raft of departures that has left the once Irish-dominated board with a Swiss majority following a shareholder revolt.
Cork native Gordon Hardie was elected to the board yesterday along with two other new directors, Jörg Riboni and Hélène Weber-Dubi.
He is the sole Irish director on the Swiss-Irish group’s board. Coming into this year four of 10 Aryzta directors were Irish.
US based Gordon Hardie is also a director of Greencore and is an experienced agri-foods executive.
He holds dual Irish and Australian citizenship, and is a graduate of University College Cork and UCD’s Smurfit Graduate School of Business. He is a former president of global agri-food business Bunge Food & Ingredients.
Aryzta shareholders will not be able to attend its annual general meeting (AGM) today – even by tuning in remotely.
Covid restrictions mean shareholders are not permitted to attend the AGM in Switzerland today or even participate remotely using technology.
The meeting will not be broadcast via video link, and shareholders will have no opportunity to put question to the board despite it coming at an exceptionally important time for the group.
With physical and virtual attendance blocked the only way shareholders can vote at the AGM is via postal proxy votes, but one shareholder told the Irish Independent that paperwork was sent too late for that.
Aryzta AGM date means some can t vote board independent.ie - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from independent.ie Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Shareholders in Aryzta have voted in favour of the majority the proposals put forward by the board.
Three new directors - Gordon Hardie, Jörg Riboni, Hélène Weber-Dubi – were elected at the AGM, which was held without the presences of shareholders due to Covid-19 restrictions.
Shareholders representing in excess of 74pc of shares eligible to vote approved all board proposals, with the exception of the motion from shareholder Lodbrok to re-elect Alejandro Legarda Zaragüeta as member of the board.
The board had proposed to reject this proposal, however Mr Legarda Zaragüeta was re-elected with 62pc of the votes.
Aryzta appoints chairman in favour of going it alone as Elliott deadline passes reuters.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from reuters.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.