GHCL shareholders reject Sanjay Dalmia’s reappointment

At its annual general meeting on Saturday, GHCL’s request to reappoint founder and non-executive chairman Sanjay Dalmia to its board did not receive enough votes.

At the AGM, 67.73% of shareholders voted to approve of the special resolution, whilst 32.27% voted against it. “The resolution was defeated because it required 75% of total voting support,” the business said in a regulatory statement on Saturday.

All of the founders and 75% of institutional investors supported Dalmia’s reappointment, however, over 90% of non-institutional shareholders voted against it.

The company’s promoters owned 19.05% of it, while professional and non-institutional shareholders of the company held 35.88% and 45.07%, respectively. With a 6.16% position, DSP Small Cap Fund is the largest public shareholder. Ares Divers and Eos Multi-Strategy Fund have stakes of 4.9% and 3.08%, respectively.

Companies must obtain shareholder approval through a special resolution for appointing directors who have reached the age of 75, according to revisions to the securities regulator’s listing responsibilities and disclosure laws. Dalmia, 79, is set to retire by rotation.

While recommending that investors vote against Sanjay Dalmia’s re-appointment, Mumbai-based proxy advisory firm Institutional Investor Advisory Services (IiAS) claimed that his role in Golden Tobacco as a promoter and non-executive Chairman till February 2014 was dubious, and he ought to be reappointed only once those issues were rectified.

As of June 30, 2022, GHCL maintained a 1.55% ownership in Golden Tobacco and was classed as a promoter of the firm undergoing corporate insolvency resolution.