Elan’s ‘dissident’ directors to quit

THE two “dissident” directors at the heart of the recent boardroom dispute at Irish pharmaceutical firm Elan are to leave their posts — resolving the row.

High-profile independent shareholder Ib Sonderby has been heading an investor campaign aimed at transforming the Elan board and recently proposed four non-executive candidates.

Last week, Elan said it welcomed all shareholder feedback and would forward such pleas to its nominations and audit committee. While nothing more on that issue has come to light, an apparently totally separate issue arose with existing non-executive directors — Vaughn Bryson and Jack Schuler — saying they intended to establish an independent inquiry in to alleged corporate governance issues at Elan. This led the company’s management branding the two men as “dissident” directors.