Shareholders in Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield have voted against a €3.5bn (£3.1bn) equity issue the company proposed as part of a wide-ranging turnaround plan.
The company announced plans for the fundraising in September, but the proposal led to fierce criticism from several shareholders, including former chief executive Léon Bressler, who argued it would be dilutive.
Following the defeat of the funding plan, Bressler will now take a seat on URW’s supervisory board, as will fellow activists Xavier Niel and Susana Gallardo.
Announcing the result of the vote, URW chief executive Christophe Cuvillier, said: “URW’s leverage remains high. We will have to review all possible alternatives to rapidly strengthen the group’s financial structure, and we will, of course, implement the other components of our reset plan – asset disposals, reduction of the cash dividend, reduction of capital expenditure – which remain critical to achieve our debt reduction targets.”
Bressler and Niel’s campaign is thought to be the first campaign to successfully challenge a CAC 40-listed company’s board recommendations in the past decade.
A joint statement from the duo reads: “The rejection of the rights issue and the approval of all three nominees to the supervisory board by a large majority validates our Refocus campaign, which was actively opposed by company management from the outset. It is therefore up to the latter to draw conclusions from this outcome.
“As supervisory board members we will faithfully carry out the mandate given to us by URW shareholders – to ensure a strong financial position and balance sheet, to pursue a clear strategy of refocussing on its prime European asset portfolio and to establish corporate governance in accordance with the very best international standards.”
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