Guy Wyser-Pratte, a New York-based investor in Lagardère SCA, has submitted two resolutions asking the family-controlled French conglomerate’s shareholders to add him to the company’s supervisory board and to change the bylaws,
the
Wall Street Journal
reported.
The
Journal
report noted that the company:
is registered as a “société en commandite par actions,” or limited partnership, a structure that gives managing partners veto power on most decisions made by shareholders. As a result, Chief Executive Arnaud Lagardère controls the company even though he and his partners own only a 9.62% stake.
Wyser-Pratte, who owns a 0.53% stake, wants the company, which operates in the media and defense sectors, to revamp what he calls a “medieval” corporate structure and narrow the focus of its operations, the
Journal
article said. In March, Lagardère reported a 77% drop in net profit, to 137 million euros ($184.9 million), the report noted.
Mr. Lagardère inherited control of the company when his father, Jean-Luc, passed away in 2003. Since Mr. Lagardère took over, he has worked on narrowing the conglomerate’s focus. Analysts say he could go further by selling Lagardère’s 7.5% stake in EADS [European Aeronautic Defence & Space Co., the parent company of Airbus] and the group’s 20% stake in French pay-TV business Canal Plus.
(Source:
Wall Street Journal,
April 12, 2010.)
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