PARIS (Reuters) - The board of French retailer Fnac Darty (PA:FNAC) has rejected a plan to grant insurance broker SFAM two boardroom seats, arguing it did not have enough time to conduct an in-depth review of potential conflicts of interest.
SFAM bought 11 percent of Fnac Darty in February, becoming its second-largest shareholder after Germany's Ceconomy (DE:CECG), which has a 24 percent stake.
SFAM requested by mail on April 19 and e-mail on April 20 that two draft resolutions to appoint two new board members be added to the agenda of the May 18 annual shareholders meeting, according to documents made available ahead of the meeting.
"The board of directors unanimously considered that it did not have, in such a short time, the opportunity to sufficiently review the candidates' profiles and the opportunity of these appointments for the company," said the Fnac Darty board.
SFAM's two candidates - Nicole Guedj, a lawyer and former French Secretary of State for Justice, and SFAM founder Kilani Sadri Fegaier - did "present links to SFAM, which is both the second largest shareholder of the company and a commercial partner of Fnac Darty," added the statement from the board.
"This proposed appointment would therefore have required an in-depth review, particularly of conflicts of interest," the board of directors also said.
The resolutions will nevertheless be submitted to the AGM, albeit not as resolutions approved by the Fnac Darty board of directors.