The battle for control of Baltimore Technologies intensified yesterday as Acquisitor Holdings appealed directly to the former FTSE 100 firm's 45,000 shareholders to sack the entire board.
Acquisitor, a Bermuda-based company that has built up a 10 per cent stake in Baltimore, set up a website outlining its complaints against management and calling on shareholders to vote with Acquisitor at a future e.g.m.
Baltimore's management countered by accusing Acquisitor of having no plan for the firm and a poor track record of creating value for its own shareholders.
A bitter war of words between the two groups now looks certain to continue until an e.g.m, sometime before the end of May.
Acquisitor's deputy chairman, Mr Duncan Soukup, told The Irish Times that Baltimore's 10,000 Irish shareholders should use their votes to replace the current board, which was responsible for a huge loss of value.
Acquisitor wants to install Mr David Buchler - a former chairman of Kroll and current vice-chairman of Tottenham Hotspur - as chairman of Baltimore. It is proposing to install Mr Soukup as Baltimore chief executive.
To be successful, Acquisitor requires a simple majority of votes cast by shareholders at an e.g.m, which it has been able to call for due to its position as Baltimore's largest shareholder.
The firm, which specialises in acquiring stakes in undervalued firms and seeking ways to extract value from them, also denied in a statement that its interest in Baltimore was "opportunistic" and criticised its management for its "disastrous track record".
The website, www.baltimoreaction.com, blames Baltimore's current management for a "shocking 99.6 per cent collapse in Baltimore's market value from £5 billion to just £20 million".
Baltimore reiterated yesterday that it would oppose Acquisitor, but acknowledged it will face a tough battle if there is investor apathy in a future e.g.m vote.
In a telephone interview, Baltimore chairman, Mr Bijan Khezri, yesterday accused Acquisitor of trying to hijack the company and insulting Baltimore's shareholders with a "major brain wash".
He said Acquisitor lacked transparency because it was based in Bermuda. It also had a poor track record for its own share price performance, he said. If Acquisitor was interested in Baltimore it should make a bid for the firm, said Mr Khezri.
He said the ploy by Acquisitor was a deliberate plan to disrupt the workings of the company's management coming up to its financial results, which are due for publication on March 31st.
This fight for control of Baltimore is the latest event in a torrid three years for the firm, which was previously headed by Mr Fran Rooney, the chief executive of the Football Association of Ireland.
