Abano dissidents seek delay to special meeting

Friday 30th May 2014

Abano Healthcare's dissident shareholders Peter Hutson and James Reeves have filed papers in the High Court in Auckland in a bid to delay the special meeting they called, where they're seeking to dump the medical investor's chairman, Trevor Janes.

The Abano shareholders, whose interests own about 19 percent of the company, want to delay the June 13 meeting by three to four weeks, saying the timeframe was "inadequate" and "impracticable" to call and conduct the meeting, according to papers filed in the High Court. Hutson and Reeves have called the vote on dumping Janes, an established professional director.

In a supporting affidavit, Reeves said the 13 working days given to shareholders wasn't enough time because the "important and controversial nature of the business to be conducted at the meeting, the biased and misleading content of the notice, the complexity of the underlying issues and the volume of biased and misleading information which the Abano board has recently made available to shareholders."

Reeves said the short timeframe will be most acute for retail shareholders who own about 50 percent of Abano.

The company issued the notice of meeting last Friday, with the board recommending shareholders oppose the vote to dump the chairman. Janes abstained from endorsing the directors' recommendation.

Shares in Abano slipped 0.3 percent to $6.75 today, and have gained 6.3 percent this year.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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