Shareholders of Payzone vote to remove officers

SHAREHOLDERS OF Irish electronic payments group Payzone yesterday supported motions to remove chief executive John Nagle and chief financial officer John Williamson from their posts at an extraordinary general meeting (egm) in Dublin.

This is the latest chapter in a saga that has dragged on since January 16th when Payzone announced that the two executives had been dismissed. Mr Nagle and Mr Williamson were subsequently reinstated following a hearing in the High Court.

Of the near 250 million shares voted yesterday, just more than 83 per cent were in favour of dismissing Mr Nagle, with the balance supporting him. In Mr Williamson's case, 82.4 per cent of votes cast were in favour of removing him.

A motion to remove Payzone's chairman, Bob Thian, was defeated, with just more than 27 per cent voting in favour.

In a surprise move, Mr Thian, who is based in England, did not attend the meeting yesterday. Mr Thian had assumed "executive responsibility" for Payzone on January 16th when the two executives were first dismissed. Peter Smyth, a director of Payzone, chaired the meeting in Mr Thian's absence. When questioned about Mr Thian's absence, Mr Smyth said: "He didn't feel the need to be here."

In a statement to the stock market following the egm, Payzone said a trading update would be issued later this week. Until then, its shares, which are listed on London's Alternative Investment Market, will remain suspended. They have been suspended since January 17th.

Speaking to the media after the egm, Mr Smyth said the company would continue to be run by its "operations committee". A new chief executive would be appointed shortly, he added.

Media were excluded from the egm yesterday, a rare event with Irish publicly-quoted companies. Just 25 shareholders attended the meeting in the Davenport Hotel, well below expectations.

It emerged that Mr Williamson had agreed a financial settlement with Payzone in relation to his legal action for damages to his reputation for a figure belived to be in the region of €100,000.

Mr Nagle said he has rejected a similar offer and would pursue the matter in court. "I intend to make sure that they [ the board] are held accountable for their actions," Mr Nagle said. "I have the will and the means to pursue that with them."

Mr Nagle plans to take a three-week holiday with his family before deciding on his next career move. "I've a couple of things that I'm looking at," he explained. "Nobody's dead . . . and I wish the company the best."