nathanblackYour reasonings about Coastal seeking a board seat...

nathanblack

Your reasonings about Coastal seeking a board seat are not supported by the tone of the 2013 AGM. Below is an extract from my report on the AGM

"IMO PaperlinX needs a fourth director with proven international experience in B2B distribution; preferably domiciled in Continental Europe, multi-lingual and with few other corporate commitments. Consider fluency in Chinese as a bonus. This is a hard ask.

In speaking against the resolution to elect Mr Olney-Fraser as a Director the Chairman gave some insight into the MO of the current board. IMO it’s running at near breakneck speed which is unsustainable.

The Chairman described it most eloquently in his address: “Your board is a diligent, close knit team with swift decision making powers.” At the AGM he explained that his chairmanship is now virtually full time with lots of late night calls to Europe.

I call that breakneck speed for non-executive directors of a listed entity.

It’s highly unlikely that “conventional” non-executive directors would be attracted to this demanding 24/7 environment for $100K+ pa.

Importantly, it demonstrates the level of key man risk at PaperlinX. What happens if Andrew Price falls under the proverbial bus?

PaperlinX is now running like a big SME where Andrew Price probably feels most comfortable and he is clearly calling the shots at the coalface of operations.

This isn’t a criticism, but an observation. PaperlinX’s market capitalisation won’t significantly improve until this perceived “SME status” changes.

The advantages of the current MO are evident - short term. Eventually the Company needs an expanded board to enjoy broad market support. Not today, but soon."

Original available at http://www.paperlinx-sux.com/2013/10/paperlinxs-2013-agm-pxupa-perspective.html

PaperlinX needs experienced international operational people on the board to remove the key man risk of Andrew Price.

A possible candidate is Andy Vels Jensen, former Heidelberg Australia & New Zealand managing director Andy Vels Jensen, who joined Paperlinx as a consultant in September, has become UK and Ireland interim managing director.

Vels Jensen moved back to his native Denmark following his departure from Heidelberg and, according to Price, will commute weekly to the UK following his appointment.

“Andy had been doing some work for us on a special project after he returned to Europe, essentially market development research and he delivered his report, which was excellent, to the board in December. So we discussed an interim role, initially for three months, heading up the UK business,” said Price.
Vels Jensen officially takes up his new role today (6 January).

Just a thought.