Radhakishan Damani opposes BAT nominee for Chair of VST Industries

livemint.com:

Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. Top billionaire investor and D-Mart promoter Radhakishan Damani opposed the candidate for chairmanship proposed by British American Tobacco (BAT for its Indian unit VST Industries Ltd, leading to his rejection at a shareholder vote, according to voting disclosures and an executive privy to the development. Opposition from Damani, who owns nearly a third of India's third largest cigarette maker, marks a rare episode of opposition from the investor who holds more than 1% shares in 11 publicly listed companies.

BAT, the promoter of VST Industries with 32.16% shareholding, first appointed its executive Naresh Kumar Sethi as director on the board of the Hyderabad-based cigarette maker in November 2018. VST sought shareholder approval to reappoint Sethi as executive chairman from non-executive director for five years from 5 November. However, Damani opposed Sethi's appointment.

Among non-institutions who own 56.9% of VST, 95% voted against Sethi's candidature. Despite 91% approval from public institutions, which own 10.9%, and the promoter voting for the resolution, Sethi's appointment failed to pass, since it got only 56% votes. Special resolutions require approval from 75% of shareholders.

Damani's opposition to Sethi's candidature as chair implies that the largest public shareholder of VST industries is not aligned with BAT's decision. "Damani is concerned about the strategy of VST and how they intend to grow the business," a company executive said on the condition of anonymity. Emails sent to Damani, BAT and VST Industries managing director Aditya Gooptu remained unanswered.