Lew calls for rival board to stop Myer’s self-destruction
MYER’S biggest shareholder, Solomon Lew, has requested a copy of the department store chain’s share register in order to push for an extraordinary general meeting to spill the board.
In a move that decisively turns up the heat on the ailing retailer, Mr Lew will engage with Myer shareholders to as- semble a rival board to challenge and replace the retailer’s existing one.
Mr Lew’s Premier Investments, a retail vehicle whose stable of brands includes Just Jeans, Smiggle, Portmans and Peter Alexander, is the biggest shareholder in Myer with a stake of almost 11 per cent stake.
Premier has previously pushed to have three directors on the existing eight-person
Myer board.
In a statement yesterday, the group said it was now looking to replace the entire board.
“Premier will, over the coming weeks, caucus with other Myer shareholders to determine appropriate independent candidates for the remainder of the new Myer board to be put to all shareholders for voting at the proposed EGM (extraordinary general meeting),” it said.
The group said it was pushing for the extraordinary general meeting “rather than allow another year of decline and value-destruction under the current Myer board”.
The meeting would “allow Myer shareholders to have their say and provide them with an opportunity to reconstitute the entire Myer board with an experienced and performance-focused board capable of addressing the current challenges and fulfilling the potential of the Myer brand and business”, Premier said.
It said the profit downgrade issued by Myer leading into Christmas — its peak earning season — again demonstrated its board was not up to the task of reversing a “disappointing downward trajectory”.