Corus escapes showdown over executive appointment

Steel group Corus was today spared a showdown over moves to appoint Dutch former steel executive Adrianus van der Velden to its board.

Corus had been opposed to his nomination by Gallagher Holdings – whose sole shareholder is Russian metals entrepreneur Alisher Usmanov – on the grounds that it was “an unwelcome distraction” and a potential conflict of interest.

However, Gallagher has now removed its threat to take Mr van der Velden’s nomination to a vote at the company’s annual general meeting in London today.

However, it added that it would continue to discuss his candidacy with the company and that it expected to revisit the issue.