do we want michelmore or hegarty at the helm

I am in both zfx and oxr. two good ceos
Nothing against Michelmore but I'd pref Hegarty
He seems more of a leader
A man with vision and a can do attitude.

Oxiana shareholders question merger move

Thursday April 17, 2008, 3:19 pm


Oxiana Ltd managing director Owen Hegarty has endorsed his predecessor Andrew Michelmore as the right candidate to lead an expanded group amid shareholder disdain at the proposed management change.

Oxiana and Zinifex have agreed to a $6.2 billion merger with Mr Michelmore earmarked for the chief executive role of the combined group and Mr Hegarty taking on a director position.

An Oxiana shareholder described the decision that Mr Hegarty was not regarded as the best man to lead the company as "shocking" at the company's last annual general meeting in Melbourne on Thursday.

Shareholder activist Stephen Mayne took particular issue with the fact that only Zinifex shareholders would be given an opportunity to vote on the proposed merger.

"It look's like you're conscious of the Owen issue and you're structuring this deliberately to avoid a shareholder revolt of the Oxiana shareholders," Mr Mayne said to a round of applause by shareholders.

The move to step aside by Mr Hegarty, who has been managing director of Oxiana since 1995, was described as a surprise by some analysts, but he threw his support behind Mr Michelmore on Thursday as the best man for the job.

Mr Michelmore was appointed to the top job at Zinifex in November after spending two years as chief executive of Russian energy and aluminium company EN+ Group.

Prior to that Mr Michelmore was the boss of WMC Resources Ltd when it mounted a long running defence against predator Xstrata Plc, before being taken out by BHP Billiton Ltd in 2005.

"Andrew, obviously is less of a name as I am in this particular market because he's been missing for two to three years anyway working in Russia," Mr Hegarty said.

"I think he will build up a significant profile and I think the Oxiana shareholders are going to be very happy with his performance."

The merger will create the world's second largest zinc producer, with a significant position in copper, lead, gold and silver.