Jun
11
Manuel Fernández de Sousa was ratified as Pescanova’s chairman. (Photo: Pescanova)
Pescanova chairman receives support and retains his position
SPAIN
Wednesday, June 12, 2013, 03:10 (GMT + 9)
Six of the ten directors present at a meeting of the administrative board of the Galician multinational firm Pescanova voted in favour of keeping Manuel Fernández de Sousa as chairman of the group.
In the meeting, held in Madrid, the attendees addressed the petition presented by one of the directors of Pescanova, the brewer firm Damm, for Fernández de Sousa to request his resignation as chairman.
Attendees also discussed the proposal to hire a law firm to act on behalf of the firm to deal with the files opened by the National Securities Market Commission (CNMV) for failing to present its 2012 accounts on time.
The firm Albiñana Suárez de Lezo was proposed, although its appointment and hiring must be agreed by Deloitte, Pescanova’s reorganisation administration.
Sources close to Pescanova revealed that some of the directors expressed their “unequivocal and resounding” support to the reorganisation administration’s work for the company to overcome the current critical situation.
Instead, Joseph Carceller (Damm), François Tesch (Luxempart), José Antonio Pérez-Nievas (Iberfomento) and Yago Mendez (the son of the former head of Caixa Galicia, Jose Luis Mendez, who has no shares) requested the president’s “head,” according to the newspaper Faro de Vigo.
Another item discussed at the meeting, which lasted over three hours, was the possibility of a Shareholder Board’s meeting as soon as the audit work finishes.
At this time, Pescanova is undergoing a creditor’s meeting with a debt amounting to around EUR 3,500 million and negotiating with five creditor banks for a credit line for about EUR 55 million.
Meanwhile, Fernandez de Sousa and the shareholder and director Alfonso Paz Andrade are charged for alleged falsification of financial information, annual account fraud and the use of relevant information. And shareholders José Antonio Pérez-Nievas and Jose Alberto Barreras are charged for an alleged crime of use of relevant information.
While some have questioned the results of the meeting, Fernandez de Sousa expressed satisfaction about the fact that the board “confirmed their trust” in the management of the company.
“I’ve never felt alone. The board in its majority has ratified its trust in the chairman. The board’s decision has been to launch the response to the files opened by the CNMV and to make the case for defense and justification of the company,” pointed out the main executive of the Spanish multinational firm.
The Minister of Economy and Industry of the Xunta de Galicia, Francisco Conde, avoided expressing his opinion regarding the permanence of Fernández de Sousa in the post as chairman of Pescanova. Instead, he stressed that what is important is to ensure the “day-to-day management” of the company, the agency Europa Press reported.
“We consider it a responsibility to be beside Pescanova’s project, alongside the workers and the viability of the company and hope that the reorganisation administrator can definitively settle the involvement of the financial institutions and manage to obtain this loan,” he concluded.
Related article:
– ‘If I had wanted to sell, I would have sold everything,’ states Pescanova’s chairman
By Analia Murias
editorial@fis.com
www.fis.com
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