Blackmores board anti Tambassis

THE Directors of Blackmores Limited have unanimously recommended that shareholders in the company vote against the elec on of former Pharmacy Guild of Australia Na onal President, George Tambassis, to its Board, saying his “deep skills in narrow areas are not enough”.

Tambassis has self‐nominated for the role, with the backing of major shareholder and former Execu ve Chairman, Marcus Blackmore and the endorsement of Chemist Warehouse Chief Opera ng Officer, Mario Tascone (PD 01 Oct).

However the exis ng Blackmores Board is clearly strongly opposed to Tambassis’ elec on, and yesterday took the extraordinary step of wri ng to investors, detailing a “strained past Board rela onship with Mr Blackmore” and why Tambassis had failed twice in an interview process.

The former Guild President was “interviewed by independent

Directors with an external search firm engaged for the process... on both occasions Mr Tambassis was unsuccessful when compared against other candidates”.

“To be a Director of Blackmores, deep skills in narrow areas are not enough,” the Board said, recognising Tambassis’ “specific exper se as a healthcare professional in the pharmacy sector in Australia” but concluding there were already resources with this experience on the Board and within the Blackmores business.

“Blackmores Directors must have a breadth of skills and experience in areas that can help our mul ‐ faceted, interna onal business grow...the members of the Board have all demonstrated that they are ‘team players’ who can work as part of the team we have built, and have strengthened it,” they wrote.

The update also noted that Blackmores’ share price was up over 50% in less than a year, and cited the Board renewal which saw Marcus Blackmore re re almost 12 months ago (PD 26 Oct 2020).

Since then four addi onal experienced independent directors have joined the Board, including former Australian Pharmaceu cal Industries CEO Stephen Roche (PD 20 Sep), alongside Wendy Stops, Sharon Warburton and Erica Mann.

“With these addi ons we have a Board that has the right combina on of skills and experience to support Blackmores’ future growth and performance,” the Board said.

The Directors also noted that when Marcus Blackmore resigned his rela onship with the then board was “strained” due to a “difference of views between Mr Blackmore and the rest of the Board about his adherence to the principles of respect in the workplace set out in our Code of Conduct”.

The vote for new Blackmores Directors will take place on 27 Oct.