Activist investor takes shot at board of vodka maker Stock Spirits
A Portuguese activist investor has launched a no-holds-barred attack on the chairman and senior director of vodka maker Stock Spirits amid discontent about shareholder returns.
Luis Amaral, whose investment firm Western Gate holds a 10 per cent stake in Stock Spirits, has called on fellow shareholders to oust chairman David Maloney and senior independent director John Nicolson.
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Western Gate blasted the board for not offering a clear growth strategy and failing to complete any acquisitions in 2018, while complaining of low cash returns to shareholders.
The firm said it will vote against the re-election of Maloney and Nicholson at the company’s upcoming annual general meeting and encouraged other shareholders to follow suit.
The move is the latest intervention by Western Gate in a long-running battle with Stock Spirits’s management.
In 2016 the investment firm successful campaigned for the removal of chief executive Chris Heath and the appointment of two independent non-executive directors.
A spokesperson for Western Gate said: “Stock Spirits needs to be run for the company, its owners, not its managers.
“The board, led by the chairman David Maloney, continues to treat corporate governance as a box-ticking exercise whilst ignoring shareholders and over-seeing a culture of group think.”
The London-listed company has suffered a tumultuous few years, with shares in Stock Spirits falling almost 30 per cent in the last 12 months.
Western Gate said it wanted replacements to promote a culture of diversity and challenge the board’s growth strategy. “The board needs a new culture and culture is set from the top,” it said in a statement.
But Stock Spirits said Maloney and Nicolson have the “unanimous support” of the board and defended their leadership.
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“We have made it clear that mergers and acquisitions is an integral part of our growth strategy, and we continue to assess a range of opportunities in order to enhance shareholder value,” the company said.
“The proposed final dividend represents a continuation of our progressive dividend policy, while also allowing us to retain a strong balance sheet in order to carry out M&A activity.”