Miner board coup

BANKING scion Peter Hambro has urged shareholders to back him against rebels trying to wrest control of the gold miner he founded.

The 72-year-old is stepping aside as chairman of Petropavlovsk amid pressure from three institutional shareholders, including Russian conglomerate Renova, which want to replace him and three non-executive directors.

Renova wants Chelsea Football Club chairman Bruce Buck, 70, to join the board alongside Vladislav Egorov. But Petropavlovsk’s board said Egorov was a Renova employee and not independent.

Separately, activist investor M&G Debt Opportunities Fund II Limited and Sothic Capital European Opportunities Master Fund have together nominated Ian Ashby and Garrett Soden. It is understood some of the rebel shareholders have concerns about independent oversight at board level. Hambro said: ‘These people should be saying thank you, not slapping me with a wet fish.’