A boardroom battle is brewing at Taisun Enterprise Co (泰山企業) as discord escalates among third-generation descendants of the 66-year-old food and cooking oil company’s founder over differences in management style and mounting losses at its China-based businesses.
Three of the company’s board members — Chan Chin-chia (詹晉嘉), Chan Ya-lin (詹雅琳) and Fred Chan (詹景超) — have tendered their resignations, the company said late on Wednesday in a filing to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Their departure means that more than three-fifths of the company’s nine-seat board, including three independent directors, have been changed, meeting the Company Act’s (公司法) requirement for a new board of directors to be elected at an extraordinary shareholders’ meeting on April 25.
Forcing the need for an election of a new board is likely an attempt by the three former directors to oust Taisun Enterprise chairman Kenneth Chan (詹岳霖), who is their cousin.
In a joint statement, the three former directors said that Kenneth Chan’s autocratic management style is not conducive to the company’s long-term development and best interests, and that he has repeatedly ignored the board’s advise to close two unprofitable China-based ventures that had posted losses of NT$200 million (US$6.05 million) at the end of the third quarter last year.
They said that Kenneth Chan has harmed the company’s interests for his own gain.
Taisun Enterprise, which holds a 20 percent stake in Taiwan FamilyMart Co (全家便利商店), controls two seats on the board of the nation’s second-largest convenience store chain.
However, one of the seats had been taken by Kenneth Chan in a personal capacity without the board’s approval, in a move that has compromised the company’s collaborative efforts with Taiwan FamilyMart, the statement said.
They accused Kenneth Chan of pocketing generous compensation for serving on the board of Taiwan FamilyMart, estimated to exceed NT$200 million a year, despite his paltry shareholding in Taiwan FamilyMart, giving him a much larger paycheck than his peers on the Taisun Enterprise board.
Yesterday, Kenneth Chan responded in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
Kenneth Chan acknowledged his shortcomings in communicating with other members of the board and urged the management team to look beyond the short-term losses in China.
He said he hopes that the company’s shareholders elect suitable leaders who can ensure the long-term prosperity of Taisun Enterprise.
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