Computershare, the global business services company that collated the votes at a fraught Petroceltic International EGM on Wednesday, has rejected criticism of the voting process by Worldview Capital, a Swiss activist investor that lost the vote to oust Petroceltic's chief executive.

Following the poll, in which Petroceltic’s Brian O’Cathain survived the attempted putsch by its 28 per cent shareholder Worldview, the Swiss investor group demanded it be allowed to inspect the votes.

Petroceltic rejected the request, saying it “would breach its confidentiality obligations to its shareholders”, and said the requests were “not in keeping with market practice”.

Worldview, which has vowed to remove O’Cathain in a row over company strategy, said it believed “shareholders should have serious concerns about the openness of the [voting] process”.

Computershare strongly rejected the criticism in a statement to The Irish Times: "Computershare is fully confident that all matters relating to the voting calculations and results for Petroceltic's EGM are accurate and complete."