http://www.copyright link/technology/1page-management-and-board-declare-war-20170327-gv7ehd
1-Page management and board declare war
The in-fighting between the executives of ASX-listed HR technology company 1-Page has reached a new height, with former chief executive and founder Joanna Riley attempting to overthrow the board.
At the same time as Ms Riley filed her motion to dismiss the recently-appointed board member Andrew Chapman of Merchant Funds Management, executive chairman John Fennelly, Michael Shen and Tod McGrouther, Mr Chapman moved to remove Ms Riley.
The notices comes as negotiations with Ms Riley over the future direction of the company are believed to have soured.
A source told
The Australian Financial Review that while negotiations are ongoing, Ms Riley's move to disband the board was reflective of growing discontent.
"This is unlikely to continue much longer. They were negotiating in good faith and now that has stopped," the source said.
The source also said that Ms Riley and current chief executive Peter Kent could be sacked in the coming days.
1-Page, which has developed recruiting software, has been suspended from trading since March 10, having been in an earlier trading halt.
The turmoil began in December when Merchant began raiding 1-Page shares, buying close to 10 per cent of the company.
Shareholder coup bid
At the time Merchant managing director Andrew Chapman attempted to orchestrate a shareholder coup, calling for a shareholder meeting to vote out various board members and a second vote on whether or not to turn the business into a shell company.
In January the company believed it had put a stop to the attempted takeover from Merchant, appointing Mr Chapman to the board of the company and replacing Ms Riley as chief executive with Mr Kent, who had previously been in the role of chief financial officer for 1-Page for only two weeks. Ms Riley stayed on as an executive.
Mr Chapman previously told
The Australian Financial Review his major problem with 1-Page had been its cash burn, compared to its relatively small revenue.
The company's operating expenses still remain at about $1 million a month, while revenue for the six months to July 31 was $827,133 – slightly down on the previous period.
But in Monday's ASX announcement 1-Page, which was
once touted as a backdoor listing success story, said additional cost cutting and board oversight of business operations had been approved.
Ms Riley and Mr Kent have been pushing to privatise the US-based company, but it is believed
negotiations had stalled earlier when a special committee of the board rejected the timeframe that they had proposed to take it private.
Prior to being appointed to the board, Mr Chapman had flagged his hopes to shut down the business and turn it into a shell, enabling 1-Page to seek out an emerging company that was based in Australia for a backdoor listing.
