Luminis, Arnold Bloch Leibler suit up for Endeavour board shake-up
Bruce Mathieson is adding muscle to the Endeavour board war.
Billionaire Bruce Mathieson says Bill Wavish should be elected to the board of Endeavour. Arsineh Houspian
Street Talk understands the Mathieson family have engaged corporate advisers Luminis Partners and law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler ahead of the hotel, liquor and pokie chain’s October annual general meeting where sparks are expected to fly.
Mathieson is Endeavour’s biggest shareholder and on Wednesday threw his support behind former Myer chairman Bill Wavish’s campaign for a board seat. The Endeavour has recommended that shareholders vote against Wavish’s election as an independent non-executive director.
Fund manager sources said ABL has written to the Endeavour board demanding to see the shareholder register. Luminis began reaching out to institutional shareholders on Wednesday.
Mathieson controls 15 per cent of Endeavour, and his son, Bruce Mathieson Jnr sits on the board.
On Wednesday, Mathieson said Wavish would be a “wonderful addition” to the board which he called a “disgrace”.
“We need people on that board who can turn the company around from just bad management. And that’s what’s happened. We’ve lost about $4.5 billion in capitalisation under this management in the last two years,” he told theFinancial Review.
Arnold Bloch Leibler’s corporate lawyers Jeremy Leibler and Scott Phillips are well-versed in boardroom slouches having suited up for the battle for control of Cromwell Property Group in 2020.
Endeavour is understood to have retained advisory firm Morrow Sodali for proxy solicitation.
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