15th Aug 2019 14:13
(Correcting that David Martin did not provide his consent to be a nominated candidate of Coast Capital at FirstGroup general meeting.)
(Alliance News) - Transport operator FirstGroup PLC said Thursday it has hired former Arriva chief executive David Martin as the new chair of its board, effective immediately.
Arriva provides bus, coach and rail operations across 14 countries, and was bought by Deutsche Bahn in 2010. Martin is currently a non-executive director at waste management firm Biffa PLC and served as interim chair for six months, and was previously a non-executive at Ladbrokes, now owned by GVC Holdings PLC.
Martin had been a pick for the FirstGroup board by activist investor Coast Capital a few months ago.
Hermes-Golden, managed by Coast Capital, in mid-May called a general meeting to remove nearly half the FirstGroup board. However, Martin did not provide his consent to be a nominated candidate of Coast Capital, meaning the activist investor only put forward six nominations.
Of Coast Capital's six nominees, Steven Norris, Bob Stefanowski and Uwe Doerken received only 36% votes in favour of their addition to FirstGroup's board. The appointment of Jim Compton was only supported by 21% of shareholders, Patricia Barron 16% and Elizabeth Filkin 15%.
At the meeting, FirstGroup noted at the time that, on average, the company's shareholders voted 4-to-1 against Coast Capital's resolutions. 71% of shareholders voted against the removal of Non-Executive Chair Wolfhart Hauser, but he stood down from the role nonetheless.
The chair appointment comes after FirstGroup on Wednesday was awarded the new West Coast rail franchise contract by the UK government, in partnership with Italian train operator Trenitalia.
Shares in FirstGroup were up 6.9% at 122.48 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon.
Related Shares:
GVC.LBIFF.LFirstgroup