Row breaks out over ‘veiled attempt’ of takeover at Mulberry
The luxury goods group, Mulberry, has accused its largest shareholder of making a "veiled attempt" at a full takeover, without making a formal offer.
Christina Ong, the Singaporean businesswoman whose Challice Group owns 41.5 per cent of the company, had written to the company demanding an extraordinary meeting to remove the chairman and chief executive, Roger Saul.
However, the company responded by saying Mr Saul had the full support of the executive board as well as Robin Gibson, the only non-executive director who is not associated with Challice.
At the centre of the row is an agreement that required Challice to first part-fund Mulberry's US expansion plans, before it could be granted a 51% controlling stake in the company. According to Mr Saul, the request for the meeting was the latest in a series of actions taken by Challice, aimed at gaining majority control without having to honour the agreement. In a statement issued Friday (November 15), the company stated: "The executive board, who between them hold 42.5 per cent of the Mulberry Group, believes that this is a veiled attempt by Challice to take full control of Mulberry without making an offer to acquire all shares not already held by Challice."
