Pubs billionaire Mathieson demands access to Endeavour documents

afr.com:

Endeavour Group’s biggest shareholder, Bruce Mathieson, has threatened legal action against the liquor chain and hotels giant and its directors if he is unable to inspect certain documents relating to Bill Wavish’s nomination as a director.

Mr Mathieson owns 15 per cent of the company and his son, Bruce Mathieson jnr, is on the board of Endeavour, which owns 354 hotels, 266 Dan Murphy’s outlets and 1435 BWS liquor stores.

Endeavour Group chief executive Steve Donohue told staff he wanted to “correct some of the selective and incomplete” information being aired by Bruce Mathieson. 

A public stoush erupted two weeks ago with the Endeavour board against a push by Mr Mathieson to have ex-Woolworths supermarkets boss Mr Wavish installed on the Endeavour board to help trigger an overhaul of the company.

Endeavour chief executive Steve Donohue, who has thus far refrained from publicly commenting on the hostilities, on Wednesday urged the group’s 30,000 staff in an internal email to not be distracted by the board stoush. Mr Donohue said he wanted to “correct some of the selective and incomplete” information being aired by Bruce Mathieson snr.

“With our peak trade period ahead of us, now is the time to stay focused on supporting each other to deliver experiences our locals love,” Mr Donohue said.

According to an October 9 letter by law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler, which is acting for Mr Mathieson’s entity, Jam Hotel Management Pty Ltd, the billionaire waging a proxy war against the board wants to inspect a number of documents.

“In order to assess whether our client has any claims against Endeavour or any of its directors, our client wishes to inspect Endeavour’s books and records,” the letter reads.

Financial Review Rich Lister Mr