![Tasmanian entrepeneur and Kathmandu founder Jan Cameron is fighting to unseat the board of Bellamy's.](/content/dam/images/g/t/u/o/i/c/image.related.afrArticleLead.620x350.gu39rb.png/1485990726066.jpg)
The battle for control of the board of stricken infant formula maker Bellamy's Australia is heating up, with the company bringing in a proxy firm to help canvass shareholders ahead of a vote that will decide the fate of four independent directors.
Bellamy's Australia is working with proxy solicitation firm GPS, seeking feedback from its investor base, which has significantly changed over the past week ahead of an extraordinary general meeting set for February 28.
One new investor the company has reached out to is US hedge fund Delta Partners, which popped up on the company's share register on Friday.
The organic baby food and formula maker is fighting to keep four independent directors on its board. The board has unanimously recommended shareholders vote against all resolutions proposed by 14.48 per cent shareholder Black Prince Private Foundation, which first came to light on January 4.
![Ex-Bellamy's CEO Laura McBain stepped down in January.](/content/dam/images/g/n/x/5/i/f/image.imgtype.afrArticleInline.620x0.png/1485222042387.jpg)
Black Prince is connected to Tasmanian entrepeneur and Kathmandu founder, Jan Cameron, the defacto leader of dissident shareholder group that claims they represent 35 per cent of the register.
Bellamy's removed chief executive Laura McBain following weeks of speculation around her future with the company on January 11, replacing her on an interim basis by Andrew Cohen.
'Straight and narrow'
Graeme Cureton, former Guinness Peat executive director and initial Bellamy's shareholder, said he continues to back Ms Cameron's boardroom push.
"I'm totally supportive of Jan and would like to see proprietary representation on the board," he told The Australian Financial Review.
"Its' quite disconcerting what's happened. I want to see the company back on the straight and narrow. It might be that (acting chief executive) Mr Cohen comes up smelling like roses."
Boston-based hedge fund Delta Partners, run by Charles Jobson, is now Bellamy's third-biggest shareholder, controlling 6.67 per cent.
BRW Rich-lister Bruce Neill, an initial Bellamy's investor and the company's second-largest shareholder at 7.4 per cent, declined to comment when contacted by the Financial Review. But Ms Cameron has claimed he supports her push.
Mr Cureton said the "sharks are looking for a feed" noting several investors selling out of the stock as short sellers come on board. He said it would be a "long bow to draw" when asked if former CEO Laura McBain may be reinstated if the incumbent board is voted out, but he spoke highly of her.
"Simple fact is Laura had great connections and she and Rob (Woolley) really built this company from the ground up," he said.
"I feel for her. It's not nice whats gone on. She sold shares, I don't have an issue with that....directors only have a small windows in which to sell. She is very honorable person. And so is Rob. There are aspersions they sold because they knew something was happening, which I believe to not be true."
Black Prince, which it has been revealed holds shares that distribute profits to the Elsie Cameron Foundation, a charity set up by Ms Cameron, proposes to remove directors Patria Mann, Launa Inman, Michael Wadley and Charles Sitch.
Black Prince
Ms Cameron, alongside allies Chan Wai-Chan, Vaughan Webber and Rodd Peters, who is an authorised representative of Black Prince, are the proposed replacement directors. Mr Peters is also Ms Cameron's long-time lawyer.
Ms Cameron has previously said she owns about 2 per cent of the $409 million company, and maintained she has no personal financial interest in Black Prince. However, the tracing notice released by Bellamy's in January showed Ms Cameron and Mr Peters as directors and shareholders of the charitable foundation to which Bellamy's largest shareholder is answerable.
In his letter to shareholders sent at the end of January, chairman Rob Woolley expressed concerns about handing board control to inexperienced directors with no strategy. He also questioned Ms Cameron's relationship with Black Prince.
The corporate regulator is monitoring the situation following a letter by Bellamy's requesting it to look into Ms Cameron's links to Black Prince.