Helsinki-based Amer Sports is investigating restructuring its board after a London-based investment bank that acquired 20% of the company in late January began pushing for representation on the board. Novator Finland Oy notified Amer Sports March 3 that it would nominate three directors at the companys March 5 board meeting. They included a lawyer and economist from Finland, an American and an Austrian. At its annual meeting, Amer Sports board appointed seven directors to serve until 2009, but said its nominating committee “will immediately start a process of defining a new board composition,” which will be presented at an extraordinary board meeting in June.
“The goal is to select board members that reflect the changes in the company's ownership structure and meets the expectations expressed by shareholders regarding the board members' knowledge and expertise in the company's areas of development,” Amer Sports said in a statement.
The pressure from Novator comes as Amer Sports winter sports business, which accounts for half its sales, continues to decline. Last week, the company reported a 15% decline in fourth quarter sales to $720 million. It said earnings per share plummeted to 3 cents from 68 cents after it took a $61.9 million charge to reorganize its winter sports business. Without the charge, the companys earnings before interest and taxes was $77.8 million. Without the benefit of currency translation, the companys winter sports sales declined 31%.
Among Novators leading investors is Thor Bjorgolfsson. At age 40, he had already been dubbed Icelands first billionaire by Forbes magazine. Bjorgolfsson made his first fortune in Russian brewing, which he parlayed into significant holdings in some of Icelands largest public companies.
