Edward Rogers forcing out five directors as telco turmoil intensifies
BNN Bloomberg
Edward Rogers is playing another card in his attempt to assert control of the Canadian telecommunications giant that bears his family's name.
Edward Rogers is playing another card in his attempt to assert control of the Canadian telecommunications giant that bears his family's name.
Late Thursday night, just a few hours after Rogers Communications Inc. (RCI) announced in a terse statement that he had been ousted as chairman of the company's board of directors, Edward Rogers said he was going to replace five of the company's directors by availing himself of his power as chair of the family trust that holds almost of Rogers' voting class shares.
"The Control Trust chair is disappointed with recent events and commentary regarding the governance of RCI and has lost confidence in the board of RCI as currently constituted," Mr. Rogers said via a news release.
As a result, he said he "intends to remove" current directors John Clappison, David Peterson, Bonnie Brooks, Ellis Jacob and John MacDonald – the latter of whom had just hours earlier been installed as the new chairman of Rogers' board.
In their place, Mr. Rogers confirmed earlier reporting by Bloomberg News by announcing those five would be replaced by Michael Cooper, Jack Cockwell, Jan Innes, Ivan Fecan and John Kerr.
The resolution is subject to approval by Rogers' Class A shareholders representing 66.6 per cent of the outstanding voting shares. The Control Trust that Mr. Rogers chairs holds 97.53 per cent of those shares.
