Former Shufersal Ltd. (TASE:SAE) CEO Itzik Abercohen has scored a major victory by being voted onto the board of directors in a vote by the supermarket chain's shareholders. All five new candidates including Abercohen were elected to the board at the expense of two sitting directors who had asked to be re-elected for an extra term.
All five new directors, who include Abercohen, form a majority on the board and they are now expected to appoint Abercohen as chairman. The board also has five external directors who did not need to be voted back in.
Shufersal is a company without a controlling core with most of its shares held by institutional investors. The six largest shareholders are Migdal, Altshuler Shaham, Menorah-Mivtachim, Clal Insurance, Harel and Phoenix, which together hold 60% of the shares in the company.
This week's vote brings down the curtain on a series of extraordinary events that has shaken up Shufersal's management over the past year. The events began with a power struggle between then CEO Abercohen and former chairman Yaki Vadmani. This led to Abercohen's departure after the board backed Vadmani.
Vadmani then sought to lead new business moves before the new CEO was appointed and then chose Israel Electric Corp. CEO Ofer Bloch to replace Abercohen. The institutional investors who hold large stakes in Shufersal did not like this conduct and demanded changes in the board during the annual general shareholders meeting. Consequently the board decided not to recommend Vadmani for another term and he stepped down. While the veteran board members tried to retain control of the company, the institutional investors made it clear that they preferred Abercohen's return to the company.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 21, 2022.
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