Investors in plot to oust boss at F&C
F&C Asset Management is arming itself for a battle with activist shareholder Sherborne Investors, after the US firm launched a coup aimed at ousting chairman Nick MacAndrew.
US coup: F&C is gearing up for battle after being targeted by activist shareholder Sherborne Investments
Sherborne, which has amassed a 17.5% stake in F&C this year, called an emergency meeting at which it will call for the removal of MacAndrew and non-executive director Brian Larcombe.
The rebel investor believes F&C has been underperforming its peers and wants to take a firmer grip on strategy by installing its founder Edward Bramson as chairman.
It also wants to make directors out of former Clifford Chance partner Derham O'Neill and Ian Brindle, former UK chair of PricewaterhouseCoopers, although it is unclear what position Sherborne wants them to take at F&C.
MacAndrew said he had no intention of rolling over and would defend his position.
'Sherborne has offered no strategy and we've got no idea what their plans are,' he said.
He said the firm had already taken steps to defend against Sherborne's accusations of lacklustre performance, slashing costs and buying investment boutique Thames River Capital for nearly £54m.
And in an official statement, MacAndrew questioned the quality of Sherborne's proposed boardroom appointments, pointing out that they 'lack recent and relevant experience of the fund management industry'.
The emergency meeting is likely to be held in early February. MacAndrew said he believed investors would continue to back F&C's existing strategy.
The disagreement threatens to develop into an unseemly spat for the fund manager, which can draw upon more than a century of experience in the City for its defence.
F&C Asset Management was founded to manage the Foreign & Colonial Investment Trust, which can trace its history back to 1868, when it began investing in government bonds.
But it will face a fierce opponent in Sherborne, which succeeded in ousting the chairman and two directors of British telecoms group Spirent in 2006.
The US company also has the backing of Aviva Investors, which holds nearly 20% of Sherborne as well as more than 6% of F&C.
Sherborne can point to F&C's difficulties since it was spun out of Friends Provident when the insurer was swallowed by buyout vehicle Resolution in August last year.
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