EasyJet’s founder defeated in bid to oust management

Bloomberg

EasyJet Plc founder turned activist Stelios Haji-Ioannou lost out on an attempt to remove the UK airline’s management and block Airbus SE jet purchases.
Shareholders resolved to retain four directors including Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren, Chairman John
Barton and Chief Financial Officer Andrew Findlay at a virtual meeting.
Haji-Ioannou, EasyJet’s top investor with a 34% stake, has spent 15 years opposing the plans of successive leaders on the grounds that they’ve been too investment-intensive and offered insufficient returns.
His latest campaign centred on claims that the purchase of more than 100 Airbus jets would drain cash as the Covid-19 crisis depresses demand for years.
The entrepreneur has demanded the cancellation of an order accounting for the bulk of 4.6 billion pounds ($5.6 billion) in capital spending through fiscal 2023, and lobbied for EasyJet’s existing fleet to be cut to 250 planes from 318.
“These resolutions represent an attempt by Sir Stelios to force the board to terminate a long-standing contract with Airbus,” Barton told the meeting. Removing four directors “would be extremely damaging and destabilising at this critical time.” Haji-Ioannou’s motions were each rejected by 57% of the votes cast, or 99% excluding his own votes, EasyJet said in a statement.
Haji-Ioannou rejected the outcome, querying the relationship between Invesco, Ninety One UK and Phoenix Asset Management, the three biggest investors after himself, and Airbus. He pledged in
a statement to carry on probing what he called a “love affair” between EasyJet and the planemaker.
Lundgren has deferred delivery of 24 aircraft, helping to reduce near-term expenditure by more than 1 billion pounds.