By Simon Jessop
LONDON (Reuters) - Electra Private Equity (L:ELTA) on Wednesday again urged shareholders to reject a bid by activist investor Edward Bramson to join its board as part of a management shake-up.
Bramson, through his Sherborne Investors (L:SIGB) vehicle, has been agitating for change since last year, arguing the firm has been held back by weak performance at Electra Partners, which manages the company's investments.
Both sides have been publicly courting investors in recent weeks to try to ensure victory ahead of a shareholders' meeting on Nov. 5, but in responding to an Oct. 16 letter from Sherborne, Electra used some of its strongest language yet.
"It is deeply disappointing that Mr Bramson has shown such wilful ignorance concerning the success of Electra and how we operate," said Electra Chairman Roger Yates.
"He has made a series of ill-judged, ill-informed and ill-founded claims about the company and its board, we cannot let this stand."
Yates last wrote to investors on Oct. 8.
Once again citing the "excellent" short- and long-term performance of Electra Partners, the Electra board said Bramson needed to be clear about his intentions.
"Despite being invested for 21 months, he has consistently refused to do so. Shareholders and the public markets deserve better than this ... we urge investors not to put our successful formula at risk and to vote against the Sherborne resolutions."
Backing up its claim that performance had been strong, Electra cited a 201 percent outperformance over the last 10 years against the Morningstar Private Equity Index, excluding Electra.
As such it was for Bramson to make the case why investors should back his call for a board change that would involve him and Ian Brindle, former UK chairman of consultants PWC, being elected to the board.
In October last year, when he went to Sherborne investors to seek their support to do that, just 11 percent backed him.
For Electra, the bid for board seats was simply an attempt by an activist to get control of the company without paying a bid premium. Sherborne currently holds a 29.75 percent stake in Electra, it said.
In addition, it cited a string of "inaccuracies" in Sherborne's Oct. 16 letter to investors, which reinforced the view that Bramson was not a suitable board candidate.
"No director has ever joined the board of Electra having made so many inaccurate public statements in support of his or her nomination."