Flybe shareholder revolt on pause as Hosking Partners gets its paperwork wrong, company says
Airline Flybe has rejected calls from a major shareholder to hold a vote on the future of chairman Simon Laffin, saying it submitted the wrong paperwork.
Flybe confirmed on Monday it had been sent an application for a meeting where it would try to replace Laffin with veteran aviator Eric Kohn.
Read more: Airline Flybe soars as major shareholder calls for chairman's head after Virgin deal
The board initially stood by its chairman, but today said it would not even consider a meeting as shareholder Hosking Partners’ request was invalid.
It said Hosking, which owns shares under other names, was unable to submit the request as it was not directly a member, or shareholder, of the company.
"The documentation as received is not a valid request […] because such a request must be made by a member of the company [Flybe]. Flybe has therefore invited Hosking to procure that a valid request […] is submitted," the company said in a statement to shareholders.
The battle between the board and its biggest shareholder comes as tensions rise over a proposed sale to Virgin-led consortium.
Hosking was angered after the board decided to push ahead with the 1p-a-share bid.
A spokesperson for Hosking today said they were "unsurprised" by Flybe's response, and accused the board of trying to "frustrate requests for transparency".
"It is a question for FlyBe as to why their only communication confines itself to procedural and legal details rather than the substance of how so much value has been transferred to the […] consortium so rapidly without shareholder approval."
Shares rocketed on Monday after Flybe confirmed the push by Hosking. Today the company’s shares fell immediately after the news broke, dropping 19 per cent to 3.25p, before rebounding to 4.11p, down 2.6 per cent on the day.
Flybe also said shareholders would be unable to direct Eric Kohn investigate of the sale process, as Hosking had requested.
Swiss and British national Kohn is a former director of listed Canadian aerospace manufacturer Avcorp.
Read more: Flybe shares tank as airline pushes on with 1p-per-share Virgin-led bi
Hosking said Kohn had received backing to become chairman from shareholders holding 40 per cent of Flybe's stock.
"The sooner he can start to look into what has gone on at Flybe the better for all shareholders," it said.