Ardent Leisure turns off EGM, invites new directors
Ardent Leisure's extraordinary meeting, which was slated for Monday September 4 and expected to be fiery, has been called off.
Ardent Leisure's extraordinary meeting, which was slated for Monday September 4 and expected to be fiery, has been called off.
Street Talk understands Ardent chairman George Venardos informed the ASX late on Sunday.
The move was prompted by Venardos asking Ariadne director Gary Weiss and US-based Brad Richmond onto the board over the weekend.
It is thought two existing non-executive directors will step down from the Ardent board by the embattled company's annual general meeting.
Rebel shareholder Ariadne Australia has been campaigning for Weiss and Richmond to join the board to push for more value to be created for Ardent shareholders.
Proxy firms ISS and Ownership Matters recommended against the election of the pair, but Ardent has still opted to skip the formalities of the EGM which may say something about the expected outcome.
In their reports to shareholders, both groups had opposed the appointment saying that Ariadne had failed to convince the wider pool of shareholders that it offered a distinct plan for Ardent, which is battling to recover from last year's fatal accident at its Dreamworld theme park.
Ariadne a 10.9 per cent shareholder withdrew three resolutions it earlier wanted to put to shareholders at an EGM. The activist group continued its push for the election of Weiss and Richmond to the board of the leisure company.