Acquisitor move to oust Baltimore board

A struggle has broken out for control of Baltimore Technologies, the former £5.2bn (€7.7bn) dotcom success, after its biggest shareholder, Acquisitor Holdings, said it plans to call an extraordinary meeting at which it intends to seek the removal of the entire Baltimore board.

Baltimore said the moves by 10% shareholder Acquisitor were "opportunistic"and were "designed to secure control of the company and its assets without paying a premium to shareholders by making a formal offer for the company.

"The timing of this notice is disruptive to the process already well underway at Baltimore. The board plans to present proposals for Baltimore's future to shareholders at the time of the company's annual results announcement on March 31," the company said in statement.

Baltimore, which has about 45,000 individual investors, is now only a shell company with a cash pile of £30m (€44.7m). The company's market value is only £21m (€31.3m).

Baltimore said it was open to considering "any viable alternative plan that Acquisitor has for the company, provided it offers fair value for shareholders and is presented in a transparent way.

"To date no proposals from Acquisitor for the future of company have been forthcoming," it added.