Johannesburg - Less than half of the shareholders in South African cement company PPC Ltd have asked it to reinstate its former chief executive, PPC's chairman said on Wednesday.
“There were significantly fewer than 50 percent who wanted him back,” Bheki Sibiya told Reuters.
PPC on Wednesday bowed to shareholder pressure and agreed to reshuffle its board, but without former chief executive Ketso Gordhan, who had pushed for his return to the company.
Shares rose on the news, reflecting investor relief that months of acrimonious in-fighting between PPC's board and Gordhan had come to an end.
Gordhan quit in September after PPC's board stopped him firing his finance chief, sparking a feud that undermined investor confidence in the middle of an expansion drive into the rest of Africa.
Gordhan had canvassed shareholders to reinstate him and publicly accused the board of poor governance.
“We realised the erosion of shareholder value because of the negativity that the former chief executive caused,” PPC Chairman Bheki Sibiya told Reuters. “We felt we needed to come up with a common ground agreement.”
Four members of the board will step down and be replaced by six new ones, expanding the number of directors to 12.
Shareholders had been due to vote on December 8 on whether to remove the entire board and make Gordhan a director in a resolution put forward by three minority shareholders with a combined 10 percent of the company.
Those investors have now agreed to the reshuffle plan, which prevents Gordhan from becoming a director.
The top investor in PPC, South Africa's $126 billion state pension fund, publicly sided with the company's board last month.
PPC shares rose 1.1 percent to 25.36 rand at 0831 GMT after earlier rising as much as nearly 5 percent, but were still down from 32.50 rand on the eve of Gordhan's sudden departure.
“It is clear from the proposed way forward that I cannot be nominated to the new board,” Gordhan said. “I know it is very unlikely that I will be asked to return as CEO, but remain convinced that I am on the best person for the job.” - Reuters