Roger Corbett says Endeavour chairman must go

afr.com:

Former Woolworths boss Roger Corbett has called on Peter Hearl, chairman of Dan Murphy’s parent, Endeavour Group, to step aside, even if activist nominee Bill Wavish fails to get elected at a contested annual meeting next week.

Proxy advisory firms last week urged clients to vote against Mr Wavish’s election, after he was nominated with the backing of 15 per cent shareholder and pubs billionaire Bruce Mathieson.

Mr Corbett, who is an Endeavour shareholder, supports Mr Mathieson’s campaign and is an ally of former Woolworths executive Mr Wavish.

Roger Corbett ran Woolworths as it grew its liquor retailing business. Louise Kennerley

“It is game on,” Mr Corbett toldThe Australian Financial Review. “The proxy firms do a pretty good job, but they’re not always right. They have a format of arriving at these assessments which are quite rigid.”

The Mathieson camp separately released a video of Mr Corbett advocating for Mr Wavish to be the change agent it claims is needed on the Endeavour board.

Mr Corbett said Mr Hearl is in “denial” telling shareholders the strategy is sound given the Endeavour share price has dropped 30 per cent since the business was spun-out of Woolworths. Endeavour owns Dan Murphy’s and BWS bottle shops, 54 pubs, and wineries including Cape Mentelle and Shingleback Wine. Mr Corbett argued there are fundamental problems with the business.

“This change is absolutely vital,” Mr Corbett said. “They need the skills of Bill Wavish. Bill is a very intuitive, clever, financial man who uses the figures, in my experience extremely well, to read the business. He gets the DNA [of Dan Murphy’s] more than the current directors get the DNA.”

Mr Corbett has been friends for more than two decades with Mr Mathieson, since