‘No need for O’Brien-INM hostilities’

THE unseating of Leslie Buckley from the Independent News & Media (INM) board need not herald a resumption of hostilities between Denis O’Brien and the group’s management, chief executive, Gavin O’Reilly has said.

A number of proxy advisory agencies had called for shareholders to vote against Mr Buckley’s re-election amid concerns that Denis O’Brien — the group’s single biggest shareholder — had too much representation on the board. Duly, at the group’s annual general meeting, yesterday, Mr Buckley was voted off by 58% to 42%.

In a strongly worded statement, Mr Buckley said he accepted the decision, but accused Gavin O’Reilly of supporting the vote. “It now appears that the chief executive was actively canvassing company shareholders to vote against my re-election. This is bizarre behaviour to say the least. I have no doubt that the chairman (Dr Brian Hillery) was aware of this activity, yet declined to stop it. I believe that both the CEO and chairman should now consider their positions,” Mr Buckley said.

Speaking after the meeting — in which he had voted in Mr Buckley’s favour — Mr O’Reilly said Mr Buckley should be “more careful with his language”, denied that he had canvassed for his removal and called the issue “a sideshow”.

Both men also suggested that the issue shouldn’t negatively affect relations between the O’Brien and O’Reilly camps. All of the group’s other directors were voted back onto the board — including Mr O’Brien’s other two representatives, Lucy Gaffney and Paul Connolly; and independent director Bengt Braun, whose re-election had previously been opposed by the O’Brien camp.

In a joint statement, Ms Gaffney and Mr Connolly said yesterday marked a sad day for INM with the group losing “a key director” in Mr Buckley.

A representative of Dermot Desmond also addressed the AGM, on behalf of the financier who has built a small shareholding in INM. Calling yesterday “day zero”, the message from Mr Desmond — who had called for Mr Buckley to remain on the board and said his removal was “a serious loss” — was that management must work at recovering value, mainly through a better digital platform.

Shareholders also heard INM reiterate its hope of achieving operating profit growth this year, with Mr O’Reilly adding that a return to paying dividends is “uppermost” in management’s minds, with a medium term (2012/2013) resumption likely.