(Boursier.com) — SMCP rises 3% to 7.75 euros this weekend. As expected, the shareholders of the fashion group, meeting in General Assembly, dismissed from the Company’s Board of Directors the representatives of Shandong Ruyi, former majority shareholder since 2016. The General Assembly in fact approved the whole resolutions put to the vote.
The shareholders thus approved the dismissal of the five members of the Board of Directors representing European TopSoho /Shandong Ruyi, and approved the appointment of three new independent directors: Mr. Christophe Chenut, Mr. Xavier Véret and Mrs. Natalia Nicolaidis. It is specified that Mr. Zanardi-Landi had, prior to the vote, withdrawn his candidacy for the post of director for personal reasons. The Board of Directors will meet in the coming days in order to appoint a new Chairman of the Board.
European TopSoho, a subsidiary of Shandong Ruyi, has been involved in a conflict with its creditors since it defaulted in September on a bond issue exchangeable into SMCP shares for an amount of 250 million euros. This defect led to a change in the capital of the owner of the brands Sandro, Maje, Claudie Pierlot and Fursac, the creditors of European TopSoho, united in a company called Glas, now holding 29% of the capital. The latter have since been demanding changes to the board of directors, including the departure of the chairman of the board, Yafu Qiu, and his daughter Chenran Qiu.
While it’s hard to predict the outcome of the vote, the proposed board changes would be a positive step in the ownership transition saga at SMCP, Jefferies wrote a few days ago. The broker expects that the stake held by Glas will ultimately be put up for sale, even if the numerous proceedings in progress will first have to be resolved.
©2022 Boursier.com