By Aastha Agnihotri
(Reuters) - Vodka maker Stock Spirits Group Plc (L:STCK), under pressure from its largest individual shareholder to remove Chief Executive Chris Heath, said on Monday he would step down with immediate effect.
Western Gate Private Investments, which owns a 9.7 percent stake in Stock Spirits, earlier this month called for Heath's ouster and said the company needed "fresh perspectives" to tackle the decline in its Polish business.
Chairman David Maloney in a statement said the board and nomination committee had been discussing executive succession plans for several months and that he had appointed an international search firm in February to help identify a new CEO.
But Western Gate's actions "have clearly interrupted our careful planning and so we decided to accelerate the CEO process."
"The statement is quite clear that David Maloney conducted a full strategic review and it does look as if, as part of that, he decided that there is a need for change at the top," Numis Securities analyst Wyn Ellis told Reuters.
Ellis added that he wasn't surprised by Stock Spirits' announcement given the financial performance of the company lately.
Stock Spirits' market share in Poland, its largest market, has declined significantly due to increased competition, weak demand and the devaluation of the Polish zloty.
The London-based company on Friday appointed Marek Sypek as managing director of its Polish operations following Western Gate's claims that the company was operating its Polish business by "remote control".
Western Gate is the private family office of Portuguese businessman Luis Amaral, who is also the CEO of Eurocash (WA:EUR), Stock Spirits' biggest customer in Poland.
Western Gate wanted Heath to step down from the board, saying "the executive management team have run out of ideas about how to stem the ongoing market share losses" hurting the Polish business, which accounts for more than half of its revenue.
Templeton Emerging Markets Group, which controls 4.2 percent of the company on behalf of its mutual fund clients, also voiced support for Western Gate's proposals last week.
Stock Spirits appointed Miroslaw 'Mirek' Stachowicz, an independent non-executive director, as interim CEO.
Heath, who joined Stock Spirits in 2007 as chief financial officer, said now was the right time for a change of leadership and that he looked forward to spending more time with family and friends.
Shares in the company recovered from an early fall of 4 percent and were up 1.1 percent at 155 pence at 0803 GMT in thin volumes on the London Stock Exchange. The broader market (FTSE) was down 0.62 percent.