Flop of the week: Affichage shareholders demand special audit
Shareholders are fighting back at the outdoor advertising group Affichage following its loss-making expansion in Greece. A group led by investment advisors Max Müller and Antoine Spillmann has sued the Board of Directors for CHF 150 million and is demanding a special audit.
In addition, the Annual General Meeting on May 26 is to replace all members of the Board of Directors with the exception of Gilles Samyn, who has only been in office since 2008. The Group is proposing four new candidates for election. These are publishing specialist Franziska von Weissenfluh, restructuring experts Jürg Müller and Claude Piccot as well as another candidate who does not yet wish to be named, as Antoine Spillmann, head of Geneva-based asset manager Bruellan, said at a media conference. The group of shareholders led by him and Max Müller from the investment company Starlet Investment together hold a 5.27 percent stake in Affichage. The largest shareholders, France's JC Decaux and Albert Frère, hold capital shares of 30 and 25.3 percent respectively, but are only entitled to vote with 5 percent each. According to Müller, support of 10 percent of the voting rights is sufficient for the requested special audit.
