Vistry’s senior independent director has quit after a bust up with fellow board member Jeff Ubben.
The departure of Ashley Steel is a dramatic escalation of a row that has left the FTSE 250 housebuilder’s board in disarray.
Ubben, founder of activist investor Inclusive Capital, one of Vistry’s largest shareholders, is said to have become angry and upset after Steel opposed his nominations for two open non-executive director positions on the board of Vistry.
Those positions are open after directors Nigel Keen and Katherine Innes-Ker quit the board in protest at plans put forward by a group of Vistry’s American shareholders, including Inclusive Capital, to tie executives’ bonuses to its share price.
