Boohoo shareholders vote against Frasers' proposal to remove co-founder

The shareholders of Boohoo Group have voted against a proposal to remove co-founder, Mahmud Kamani, as a director of the fast fashion company. A total of 63.17 percent voted against the resolution, as opposed to 36.83 percent voting for it.

The proposal had been brought forth by Frasers Group, a majority shareholder in Boohoo, which had called on Kamani’s removal following a string of lacklustre financial reports. Upon announcing the results of the general meeting, which took place January 21, Boohoo has now requested for Frasers to “end its attempts to destabilise and disrupt the group”, adding that “these continued distractions are not in the best interest of creating value for all shareholders”.

In the report, Tim Morris, independent non-executive chair of Boohoo, thanked shareholders for “their overwhelming support”, which he said provided a “clear mandate to continue with the work of creating maximum value for all shareholders”. In his own statement, Dan Finley, CEO of Boohoo, said: “Once again, our shareholders have spoken. We want to put this disruption and distraction behind us. Our focus is on maximising value for all shareholders."

Kamani remains as director: Will Frasers continue its campaign for representation?

Frasers has been on somewhat of a campaign trail under the title ‘Win with Ashley, Lose with Kamani’, through which various open letters publicly published by the firm have pointed to supply chain allegations, lack of shareholder transparency and financial results among its concerns. With this, it requisitioned two general meetings back in November: one addressing the proposed director appointment of Mike Ashley and insolvency expert Mike Lennon, the other calling for the removal of Kamani as a director.

The first took place in December, during which shareholders made their feelings known regarding Ashley’s pursuit of board representation. Aligning with the perspective of Boohoo itself, 64 percent of shareholders voted against both Ashley and Lennon’s appointment. Frasers later reaffirmed its intention to continue seeking board representation.

Via its open letters, Frasers had also been applying pressure to remove Kamani, citing a “leadership crisis” at Boohoo as one of its core issues. In response to Frasers’ repeated letters, Boohoo had later said it would allow Frasers’ board representation, yet the group was to agree to certain terms, including a commitment to not make an offer for Boohoo or any of its subsidiaries in the case of a sale. Kamani, who owns 23.21 percent of the business, confirmed his intention to this term, while Frasers is yet to.

Boohoo has stood firm in its backing of Kamani, and has previously stated that Frasers’ demands formed “part of an ongoing campaign” that appeared “intent on destabilising Boohoo and disrupting the board’s plans to unlock and maximise shareholder value”. It added that Frasers was “acting only in its own commercial self-interest”. Kamani was dubbed an “integral part of the leadership team”, providing counsel and guidance that remained “invaluable” to the business.