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Founder slams departing directors

Major shareholder of 2 Cheap Cars’ owner says change of board is needed to restore value of company.
Posted on 20 July, 2022
Founder slams departing directors

A co-founder of the parent company for 2 Cheap Cars says his proposal to remove three non-executive directors from the board is necessary to turn around “recent poor financial performance”.

David Sena, who is the major shareholder of New Zealand Automotive Investments Limited (NZAI), has spoken out following the sudden resignation of four board members.

Non-executive directors Charles Bolt, Tim Cook and Tracy Rowsell, and executive director Eugene Williams, Sena’s fellow co-founder of NZAI in 2011, all announced their resignations on July 19.

In an announcement to the NZX, they cited a “breakdown in trust and confidence and irreconcilable differences” with Sena about how the publicly listed company should be managed and governed.

The departing directors also revealed Sena was proposing to call for the removal of the non-executive directors from the board at the annual shareholders’ meeting scheduled for August 25.

Sena, pictured, has now released a statement of his own saying the future of NZAI and delivering ongoing shareholder returns is of paramount importance and the key driver of his proposal.

“This is about restoring value for NZAI shareholders – as the founder and a shareholder in NZAI my primary goal is to ensure that NZAI’s board and management are working together to ensure that the company performs to its full potential,” he explains. 

“Clearly, the current poor performance of the company and the inability of the board to execute a clear strategy to turn around that under-performance is the reason why change is needed.”

Sena adds in his July 19 statement that responsibility for the poor performance ultimately sits with the board and it must be held accountable for what he calls its failure to arrest and reverse the decline.

“The departure of the non-executive directors will allow a complete refresh of the board and the appointment of new non-executive directors that have the requisite skills, experience and unity of purpose to preserve and create shareholder value,” he says.

He has put forward nominations for three new directors – Julian Davidson, Jason Lewthwaite and Gordon Shaw – and these will be voted on by shareholders at the August meeting.

“I am confident that these nominated directors will, if elected, bring with them the capability and focus to turn around the performance of NZAI and maximise value for the benefit of all shareholders,” says Sena.

The upheaval at NZAI follows the resignation of chief executive David Page at the start of July, with his final day in the job set to be September 30, and former chairman Karl Smith and fellow independent director Michele Kernahan quitting their roles in April