Banc Sabadell : The board of Cellnex (CLNX) on 26 April will proceed to appoint a director representing TCI (9.4% of CLNX), probably Jonathan Amouya (TCI partner) as requested by the fund in its letter. It is also expected that an additional independent director will be appointed to restore the number of directors to 11, following the departure of Bertrand Kan and Peter Shore.
After the incorporation of the proprietary director by TCI, the possibility of reaching the minimum reinforced majority of eight directors for the appointment of the new CEO (replacing Tobias Martinez) would seem to be closer. Once again, Marco Patuano (former non-executive CEO of CLNX between 2018 and 2019) is mentioned, who could also have the support of Edizione (8.2% of CLNX), although other possible candidates are apparently being considered.
We recall that on Thursday 23 March, TCI (~3% of CLNX capital directly and ~6% via derivatives) sent a letter to the board of Cellnex (which it made public) requesting the departure from the board of the Chairman of the Company (Bertrand Kan) and 2 independent directors (Peter Shore and Alexandra Reich), proposing the incorporation of one of the directors of the fund. The reasons given revolved around what they considered to be poor management of the process of replacing Tobias Martinez. At its meeting on Monday 27 March, the Cellnex board had already agreed to replace Bertrand Kan with Anne Bouverot as non-executive chairman and subsequently on 4 April, independent directors Bertrand Kan (former chairman of the Company) and Peter Shore resigned from the board.
Assessment:
Unsurprising news (after the recent events of the last few weeks) which would be a further step by the CLNX board to comply with the TCI fund’s requests. If the news is confirmed, the appointment of Tobias Martinez’s replacement as CEO of the Company would be closer. The Company has accumulated +16% (+11% vs IBEX) since the publication of TCI’s letter on 23/04.
