A group of dissenting shareholders scored a victory at Ascendis Health after they were elected to the beleaguered company’s board.
Carl Neethling, Bharti Harie and Amaresh Chetty were appointed as the wellness company’s independent non-executive directors on Wednesday following a special general meeting.
The meeting and the appointments, which are not supported by the current board, reflect divisions in the company.
Ascendis called the meeting after receiving a letter of demand from the Neethling Consortium for Ascendis to vote on trio’s appointments, a move backed by Alpvest Equities and Dendrobium Capital. This demand was one of two, with a second one also calling for a meeting to vote on the appointments of Maki Modisakeng, Samuel Miller and Francois Theron, also as independent non-executive directors.
So, on Wednesday, shareholders cast their votes on the six, but Modisakeng, Miller and Theron did not make the cut.
Neethling, Harie and Chetty’s victory could, however, come at a high price for the company and might result in its lenders Apex Management Services and Pharma-Q cancelling their R550 million loan to Ascendis. In an update to shareholders, Ascendis said the board had not received written approval from the lenders regarding board changes, without which a loan cancellation could be triggered.
This would be a setback for Ascendis, which has appeared to be on the road to recovery, after cutting down its debt, which stood at a staggering R6.7 billion in June 2021, to R582 million in December, through asset sales.
The wellness company also said a preliminary analysis showed that the lenders did not support the Neethling Consortium’s demand.