A group of shareholders are planning to call an emergency general meeting to request the resignation of Federation Centres chairman, Peter Hay, in the wake of yesterday’s surprise departure of Steven Sewell.
According to sources, the campaign to unseat Hay will be led by Winston Sammut of Folkestone Maxim Asset Management.
Mr Sammut was not available for comment.
However it is understood the move will be backed by a handful of large-scale shareholders.
While it’s not clear when a letter will be submitted to the board, the groundswell of discontent against the chairman in the aftermath of the messy exit of his chief executive, will, for many in the market, invoke memories of the top-level battle at Mirvac.
In 2012 Nick Collishaw’s surprise departure prompted dissent from shareholders and ultimately led to the early resignation of chairman, James MacKenzie.
Mr Sammut also led that campaign and drew support from BT Investment Management, as well as UBS asset management. It’s understood Deutsche’s property fund RREEF also supported the action.
Federation Centres, the country’s second-largest retail property owner, yesterday replaced Steven Sewell with Angus McNaughton, the former head of Commonwealth’s real estate platform, prompting a groundswell of dissent among unit holders.