Ahead of today's INM annual general meeting, O'Brien has published a report, written by the David Group, criticising INM chief Tony O'Reilly's corporate governance. Publication of the document follows a similarly critical assessment of the company issued last year by O'Brien. O'Brien, who has been deemed a dissident shareholder by the INM board, has in the past called for the group to sell off its two loss-making UK newspapers.
However, INM issued a regulatory statement this afternoon that highlighted that the report has already been completely dismissed by Professor Jay Lorsch of Harvard Business School, whom it said was a widely-recognised expert on corporate governance.
Professor Lorsch recently completed an assessment of INM's governance, giving the group a clean bill of health.
"The report published today by Stephen Davis just repeats much of the same content using the same sloppy methodology as last year's report," Professor Lorsch said in a statement issued this afternoon by INM. "It fails to consider the reality of how the INM board functions, the individual contributions of each of the directors and their ability to execute their own independent judgement for the benefit of all stakeholders."
Earlier this year, O'Brien, who has been incrementally upping his stake in INM, was labelled a "dissident shareholder" by the media group's board.
At the end of last month, O'Brien increased his stake in INM to 23.61%, edging him closer to the 25% threshold that would hand him a major say in the running of the company.
O'Brien, who previously held a 22.67% stake, is rumoured to be planning a takeover bid for the company, which owns UK titles The Independent and The Independent on Sunday as well newspapers in India and Ireland.
INM chief executive Anthony O'Reilly remains the group's biggest shareholder with a stake of more than 27%, having recently increased his holding.
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