Tony Gibbs has been dumped from the board of Guinness Peat Group after speaking out against its demerger proposal last week.In a statement this morning, GPG chairman Sir Ron Brierley said Mr Gibbs' statement last week was not seen or authorised by the boa
Tony Gibbs has been dumped from the board of Guinness Peat Group after speaking out against its demerger proposal last week.
In a statement this morning, GPG chairman Sir Ron Brierley said Mr Gibbs' statement last week was not seen or authorised by the board of GPG before its release.
“This action has been taken with much sadness but was unavoidable,” Sir Ron said.
“Tony was a great achiever for GPG in earlier times and we worked together closely and effectively for nearly 20 years.”
Sir Ron said more recently there were increasing difficulties culminating in last week’s “serious breach of boardroom protocol.”
“In the circumstances, there was no alterative to the action taken.”
Sir Ron said the board was of the view that Mr Gibbs' strategy was inappropriate and fails to take account of the complexities inherent in GPG’s current structure.
“Furthermore, it is contradictory to external independent advice previously obtained.”
GPG announced plans for corporate reconstruction on June 16, which were initially supported by Mr Gibbs.
The proposal would see the spin off of the company’s Australian business.
After initially backing the plan on the basis of shareholder support, Mr Gibbs then went public with his opposition to the demerger.
However, the company said he had not consulted the board. The plan has not been well received by investors in New Zealand.
