A boardroom fight at local beverage maker Hey Song Corp (黑松) yesterday, which had seemed to be escalating, was dramatically resolved as rival board members came to an agreement on principle.
In a statement issued to the Taiwan Stock Exchange, the Taipei-based company said that through rational discussion and communication, board members agreed to resort to the principle of corporate governance to settle their management disputes.
The statement came after the company called a press conference at 5pm, in which chairman Chang Tao-hung (張道宏) and board director Chang Pin-tang (張斌堂), who is also a nephew of Chang Tao-hung, shook hands to deliver the peace-making message to the press — just one day ahead of the company’s ad hoc shareholders’ meeting to elect new board directors.
Earlier last month, nine board directors, led by Chang Tao-jung (張道榕) and three board supervisors, jointly accused the company of making inaccurate financial reports.
They protested against Chang Tao-hung in newspaper ads for denying their request for an audit.
The disputes also involved Paul Liao (廖偉志), chairman of Hey Song’s business partner the Breeze Center (微風廣場), whose increased investment in Hey Song local media reports have said was aimed at eventually acquiring the company.
Liao has dismissed the reports as nothing more than speculation.
Yeh Shu-ling (葉淑玲), one of the three supervisors on the board, later used another newspaper ad to ask shareholders to participate in an ad hoc meeting scheduled for today, aiming to secure enough support to elect a new chairman to replace Chang Tao-hung.
Hey Song was originally scheduled to hold its annual shareholder meeting on June 15.
The company has recently seen increasing investor interest because of the strength of its core business, solid financial status and possession of ample land in Taipei.
The boardroom fight has raised concerns from the stock exchange regulator, asking the two competing camps to solve their disputes in the spirit of corporate governance.
Over the past month, shares of Hey Song have dropped 16.03 percent, closing at NT$22 yesterday, compared with a 10.1-percent fall on the benchmark TAIEX, stock exchange data showed.
Yesterday’s statement, however, did not explain why the two different camps decided to resolve differences at the family-run business, which was established in 1969, nor did it say who would lead the new board after today’s shareholder meeting.
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