Good Energy shareholders have rejected a proposal by Ecotricity to remove Good Energy’s chair from office, as well as a special resolution requiring shareholder approval for the disposal of its generation assets.
When excluding those from Ecotricity, which holds a 25% stake in its rival supplier, roughly 94% and 93% of the votes cast were against the resolutions. With Ecotricity’s votes included, the figures were around 58% and 57% respectively.
The votes took place on Friday (11 February) at an extraordinary general meeting requested by Ecotricity in a requisition notice issued on Christmas Eve.
Ecotricity controls just over 4.2 million of the almost 16.8 million ordinary shares in Good Energy, which are each entitled to one vote. The two companies have been at loggerheads for several months after Ecotricity unveiled a £56 million takeover bid.
In a regulatory announcement, Good Energy revealed that approximately 58% of the nearly 11 million votes cast on the resolution were against the move to oust its chair William Whitehorn, with around 42% in favour.
Meanwhile, the special resolution requiring shareholder approval for the disposal of Good Energy’s generation assets, which received almost 10.9 million total votes, was rejected by a margin of approximately 57% to 43%.
The company noted that, if the results were calculated whilst excluding the votes cast by Ecotricity, more than 94% would be against removing the chair and more than 93% would be against the special resolution.
Good Energy’s chief executive Nigel Pocklington said shareholders had once again dismissed the “disruptive actions” of one shareholder and competitor and what the company sees as its “persistent inaccurate and misleading statements”.
“In our view, this result represents a huge endorsement of our strategy — helping individuals and companies play a part in the clean energy transition. With this process behind us, that’s what we plan to focus on delivering,” he added.
Ecotricity founder Dale Vince nevertheless accused the Good Energy board of being “detached from reality”.
He said: “Shareholders have spoken and true to form, the board of Good Energy aren’t listening. Nearly half of all shareholders want the current chairman replaced and nearly half of all shareholders don’t want the company’s generation assets sold. But despite this, the board describes the votes as an overwhelming vote of confidence. That’s detached from reality.
He continued: “The board rushed the sale of the assets to avoid shareholders having a say, and then offered the resignation of the chairman to avoid the vote.
“In a properly run listed company this issue would have been put to shareholders properly and not in the reluctant, rushed and prejudiced form that it was.
“Shareholders would have had a fair say. The board should now consider their positions. They barely have the support of half of all shareholders. That’s untenable.”
Pocklington said in response: “This is utter nonsense. Aside from one individual shareholder, the Good Energy shareholders have once again clearly demonstrated their support for our board and strategy.”
Good Energy announced in January it had completed the sale of its 47.5MW portfolio of wind and solar farms to investment firm Blueprint Partners as part of its strategic shift towards energy services.