However the former vice-chairman of Shepherd Neame distanced himself from an article in the Daily Mail suggesting he would take legal action on Monday if the changes he was demanding were not made.
He told the Publican’s Morning Advertiser he was objecting to proposals to replace the family B shares with a single class of share, reducing their percentage of the vote from 91% to 54%> However, he insisted legal action would only be at “an absolute last resort”.
He said he had spoken out because he felt the move would “spell the end of Shepherd Neame as a family business”.
He took particular issue with the company’s claims that its proposals brought ISA benefits to shareholders, which he disputes.
“If the shareholders are going to make a decision that is so finely balanced then they need to be in possession of all the facts", he said. "What the board has put out is at best misleading and I believe it to be untrue.”
Family affair
He said it was crucial the company remained a family firm because “when a business is controlled by a family it tends to take the long-term view rather than being at the behest of investors looking for a quick return on their portfolio”.
“In the 1980s I was a strong campaigner on behalf of the industry and was quite often in the newspapers", he added. "I am sure that prominence and that platform to speak on behalf of the industry was only afforded to me because my surname is Neame.”
In response to Neame’s comments, chairman Miles Tempelman said: “The board believes that simplifying and modernising our share capital structure is good for shareholders and good for the company.
“This is an initiative driven very much by what is best for all shareholders, family and non-family. We have received strong support for the proposals with the vast majority in favour, but of course this is subject to shareholder approval at the upcoming EGM”.