Webcentral has narrowly avoided a first strike at its annual...

Webcentral has narrowly avoided a first strike at its annual general meeting, with 23.3% of shareholder votes cast against approving the company’s remuneration report. Under ASX listing rules, if shareholders holding more than 25% voting power in a company vote against approving a company’s remuneration report, it is considered a irst strike. If this happens two years in a row, this triggers an automatic board spill,

with all directors required to stand for reelection. Shareholders meanwhile also voted by margins of over 90% to approve an additional

placement capacity equivalent to a number of shares equal to 10% of the issued capital of the company, to re-elect BigAir founder Jason Ashton as a director, and to issue 3 million director options to Ashton, chair Joe Gangi and director Natalie Mactier. But a vote to issue 15 million performance rights to a company associated with managing director Joe Demase passed by a somewhat narrower margin of

around 84%. At the meeting, Gangi said Webcentral is on track with the transaction to sell two thirds of its Webcentral and Melbourne IT domain name registry, consumer hosting and email hosting services business to an investment group led by Oakley Capital for $165 million. The company expects completion of the transaction to occur on 20 December, with its equity partners having already commenced the equity drawdown process, Gangi said.