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Shareholder revolt looms at VA

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Shareholder revolt looms at VA

Old 22nd Jun 2018, 00:38
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Shareholder revolt looms at VA

This just in: Appears Etihad have someone in mind to buy some of their shares AND become the mover in a bid to replace J.B. with John Thomas (who was boned last year). And thus effect CHANGES.

From The Australian:
Virgin Australia is expected to face an investor revolt led by a new activist shareholder who could emerge with the aim of installing a former executive as the airline’s new boss. Etihad’s relatively new chief financial officer, Mark Powers, was reportedly in Australia last week to hold meetings ahead of a decision by the airline to sell down a chunk of its stock. Dealmakers thought a transaction would have occurred by now and expect it could happen imminently.

DataRoom understands former Virgin executive John Thomas could be put forward as chief executive by a new activist investor with the backing of most of the airline’s current investors. On the current registry, Etihad holds nearly 21 per cent, followed by Singapore Airlines with 20.03 per cent, China’s Nanshan Group which holds 20.02 per cent and HNA Group with 19.85 per cent. The airline’s founder, Richard Branson, retains 10.02 per cent. The future of Etihad’s stake has been under question for the past few months after the airline flagged that its investment with Virgin was not in line with the strategy put in place by chief executive Peter Baumgartner. Abu Dhabi’s Etihad has recently been reviewing its strategy. The carrier made a $US1.87 billion net loss for the 2016 financial year, including taking a hit from poor performances by Italy’s Alitalia and Germany’s Air Berlin, which is no longer flying. It’s expected that an activist investor could take a 5 per cent stake in the airline and then start lobbying for major board and management changes.

The new investor would be likely to gain the support of the Singapore group, Etihad and Branson. The trio is understood to be keen for change to be implemented at the airline. The outlook from the Chinese investors is believed to be difficult to judge and their opinion on the prospect for change has been tough to gauge by onlookers.

Given John Borghetti has flagged that he will leave Virgin in 2020, its expected that putting a new chief executive in place earlier would be made a priority. The proposition for Thomas to return to Virgin is understood to be supported by the company’s major shareholders after his brief stint, which ended last year. At the time, Thomas was running Virgin’s domestic and international businesses and was considered the second in charge. However, he lasted just a year before he left in June. Virgin said at the time that Thomas was not the “right fit’’ but he is believed to have the backing of the shareholders. For the half*year to December 31, Virgin made a statutory after*tax profit of $4.4m and the net loss attributable to owners was $10.3m. On the carrier’s preferred measure, underlying profit, it had its best result in a decade at $102.5m.

Last edited by juliusg; 22nd Jun 2018 at 02:10.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 01:30
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The link is behind a paywall.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 02:43
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JT’s return would be a godsend for VA. He has a proven track record (look at what he did in the USA) and knows how to run a business. He already knows the ins and outs of the business.

In the short stint he had at va he increased the pilot group engagement and created the success story that is economy x. His only fault was that he was putting upper management in their place by informing them of their short comings. They obviously referred to this as him ‘not being the right fit’.

I for one look forward to his return as the ceo of the group.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 02:59
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Not just the support of the shareholders but nearly EVERY staff member at Virgin Australia. Actually made some money for the company with his idea's. Actively listened as well.

I personally thought JB was the messiah when he started. Look how that turned out. Hopefully John Thomas will get the CEO job and we can all move forward.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 03:00
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He has a proven track record (look at what he did in the USA) and knows how to run a business. He
Careful. JT has been a consultant his entire career. He has not run any successful business which is why I was hoping you can tell us which billon dollar companies these are?

Highly unlikely to appoint someone lacking the experience running a $5b+ company. He just has never done it before. Virgin was his first real executive job.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 03:03
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And JB started in the mail room. So what. Warrent Buffet had never been a CEO either, look at him now.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 03:12
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Originally Posted by Servo
And JB started in the mail room. So what. Warrent Buffet had never been a CEO either, look at him now.
Your missing the point. Did he stay in the mail room until his Virgin appointment?
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 05:22
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Being a yes man and "working" your way up a pole doesnt make you a good CEO either. I respectfully think you are missing the point. JB's reign has not been stellar.

But this is not about JB anymore.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 05:52
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An indication of the worth of a senior manager is whether they shoot the messenger when they get told news they don’t want to hear. A poor manager will punish those that deliver bad news.

And the indication of the worth of a less senior manager is their willingress to provide information the boss needs to hear, even though they know it will result in grief. A good one will provide fearless advice to their boss and not tailor the info to save themselves. A poor one filters the bad news out and only delivers info that won’t get them yelled at.

i will leave it to others to decide if they have one of the first and many of the second.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 14:26
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Your missing the point. Did he stay in the mail room until his Virgin appointment?
He should have stayed there, FULLSTOP!
JT has been the only executive in recent years that had any idea how to run an airline properly and if he does come back, I hope it happens before the company becomes a total train wreck.
There’s a lot of damage to be undone!
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 14:41
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The info I got was JT was removed by both JB and EB.

Last time I checked she is still the boss, so it’s all really just media dribble at this time.

I’d say highly unlikely to see JT under EB’s reign.

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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 20:38
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Clearly EB is 95% of the problem and should be removed from the board.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 21:50
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Originally Posted by Interceptheading
Clearly EB is 95% of the problem and should be removed from the board.
Understatement of the year. Shouldn't be allowed to run a lemonade stand.
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Old 22nd Jun 2018, 23:48
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Anyone know what Rob Fyfe is doing these days?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Fyfe
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Old 23rd Jun 2018, 00:27
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Time to dust off the old CV , again !
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Old 23rd Jun 2018, 06:13
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I thought it was common knowledge that Etihad was selling 5% to SQ?
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Old 23rd Jun 2018, 07:14
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Didn’t think sq or any of the major shareholders could buy more outside of the creep provisions without launching a full takeover bid.

someone wise in the ways of the asx will be able to correct me
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Old 23rd Jun 2018, 08:44
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Originally Posted by Roj approved
Anyone know what Rob Fyfe is doing these days?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Fyfe
Fyfe has already said that he would not help a company that was a competitor to Air NZ.

Besides he is busy organising a hole on the South Island's West Coast
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Old 23rd Jun 2018, 09:01
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Charma is correct. If they (or any one of them) buy 5% on top of their 20% then they will have to launch a formal takeover. Can't see any of the incumbents doing that as it stands. They will all sit on the creep provisions. Will be interesting to see who the 5 % investor is as it would have to be someone of influence to get three of the shareholders to agree to a new CEO. Interesting times in Sydney for the next few months. Let the manoeuvring begin (well that has already started apparently)
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Old 23rd Jun 2018, 09:24
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Originally Posted by wheels_down

Your missing the point. Did he stay in the mail room until his Virgin appointment?
No, he rose through the ranks by being a time server in the right place at the right time, judging by his stint at VA it would seem it had nothing to do with talent... longevity at QF through advantageous circumstances (when a lot of talent departed after Strong took over) painted the picture of him being some sort of genius when he wasn’t... do people really believe the line that he was responsible for QF’s market performance... nothing to do with their major competitor going broke or with Dixon’s strategy. The results show he was never up to the job and now the chickens are coming home to roost.
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