Affichage: Board of Directors re-elected despite countermotion
At the Annual General Meeting held on May 26, 2011, the shareholders of Affichage Holding approved all proposals submitted by the Board of Directors. Jean-François Decaux (Chairman), Paul-Henry Binz (Vice Chairman), and Gilles Samyn were reelected to the Board of Directors. Robert Schmidli was elected as a new member.
The Annual General Meeting of Affichage, which specializes in outdoor advertising, was dominated by the company's failed expansion into Greece. A group of shareholders wanted to change the Board of Directors due to the loss-making investment, but failed. Jean-François Decaux, Chairman of the Board of Directors, was confirmed in office for a further three years by the 200 or so shareholders present with 69.2 percent of the votes. His two colleagues Paul-Henry Binz and Gilles Samyn were re-elected with similar results. Robert Schmidli was elected as a new member. This was reported by Affichage in a press release on Friday.
A shareholder group led by investment advisors Max Müller and Antoine Spillman with 5.27% of the votes called for further consequences: they had submitted questions to the Board of Directors about the failed expansion. Their motion for a special audit was rejected with 64.6 percent of the votes. The proposal of some shareholders for an Extraordinary General Meeting also failed. The Annual General Meeting rejected both motions, according to the Affichage press release.
However, the shareholder group intends to take the project to court. This would require 10 percent of the votes. It has filed a lawsuit in Geneva against former Group CEO Christian Kauter and other individuals. Affichage itself has taken legal action against its former business partners in Greece and an ex-manager. The company is no longer active in Greece.
