Narrow escape for Baltimore bosses

DIRECTORS of Baltimore Technologies face a tightrope act in the coming months after they survived controversial motions to unseat the board by the tightest of margins.

But major shareholder Acquisitor, which called for the board's removal at Thursday's extraordinary general meeting, is likely to renew its challenge to wrest control of the former computer security company after further increasing its stake in advance of a fresh assault.

The results of the votes, which were announced yesterday, were among the closest ever seen in Irish corporate history.

Chairman and former chief executive Bijan Khezri survived the motion to unseat him with 50.12% of the 19 million votes cast. Current chief executive David Weaver enjoyed a scarcely more comfortable winning margin, with 50.53% support.

Acquisitor, which owns more than 15% of Baltimore, was behind approximately 8.6 million of the 9.7 million votes cast against Mr Khezri and the 9.6 million against Mr Weaver.

But the Bermuda-based investment vehicle signaled it would continue to weigh on the board's mind when it bought a further 70,000 shares in Baltimore.

Observers expected Acquisitor to use its increased stake to force through the motions that came so close to succeeding yesterday. The extra 70,000 shares would easily outweigh Mr Khezri's winning margin of 47,000. Mr Weaver's position would also be vulnerable, given his margin of 205,000.

But a Baltimore spokesman was upbeat after the results were announced. "It's a fantastic victory for Bijan Khezri, the management and their plan," he said.

Baltimore said it plans to reinvent itself as an energy firm in an effort to deliver value to shareholders from its €35m cash pile its last remaining major asset.

Resolutions to remove directors George Powlick and Simon Enoch from the board were passed with 50.7% support. Baltimore had previously announced that both directors would stand down after the meeting regardless of the outcome of the votes.

Fellow directors Denis Kelly, Andrew Hunt, Richard Eyre, Alfredo Goyanes, James Huston and John Uttley all survived removal motions. The votes cast at Thursday's meeting represented 36% of the outstanding shares.

Yesterday's results mean Baltimore escapes having its stock exchange listing suspended. If the motions to unseat the directors succeeded, Baltimore would have fallen foul of listing rules that require publicly-quoted companies to have at least three directors.