LESLIE BUCKLEY, one of Denis O’Brien’s representatives on the board of Independent News & Media (INM), has said it is “very difficult to effect change” in a company as a minority shareholder and those with minority shareholdings are “bystanders” who remain “on the sidelines”.
Although he refused to comment specifically on INM, he said there would be “plenty of news about INM over the next few days”.
Speaking yesterday at a public lecture organised by the National College of Ireland, Mr Buckley warned against investing in companies as a minority shareholder, saying he had learned from past investments.
“About seven or eight years ago, Denis and I invested in quite a number of companies which went to the wall. One thing I learned from that, and I’m sure Denis did too, was that unless you have a majority shareholding and you can actually control your own destiny then there isn’t too much you can do about things.”
He continued: “It’s very difficult to effect change if you’re a minority shareholder. If you own 51 per cent of the business and it’s a failure, then you can blame yourself.
“Going back to 2000, myself and Denis invested in quite a number of things as small shareholders: where are they today?”
Mr Buckley, who was appointed to the board of Aer Lingus in May this year, said yesterday the airline was going to take “radical action” to reduce costs.
“If you look internationally, the airline business is in chaos. Aer Lingus had, a year ago, €800 million in cash; now it has only €440 million.”
He said Aer Lingus needed to save “at least €120 million” and radical cuts were necessary.
An announcement on the details of a cost-cutting plan would be announced “sooner rather than later”, Mr Buckley added. He dismissed the possibility of Ryanair buying the former State airline, saying it would lead to a monopoly that would have an adverse effect on price.
Mr Buckley, who in the past has been heavily involved in the restructuring of companies such as Waterford Crystal and Irish Steel, said the board of Aer Lingus was being “kept very up to date” with discussions on restructuring.
Reiterating that there would be an announcement “sooner rather than later” on the costcutting plan, Mr Buckley said a board meeting was scheduled for tomorrow.
