It’s difficult to comprehend that in this day and transparent age the media still gets barred from attending a company AGM.
The FM’s request to observe the AGM of poultry and animal feeds group Quantum Foods was unceremoniously denied last week.
The group’s company secretary and legal adviser had the following to say: “Unfortunately, attendance is limited to registered shareholders only and we are therefore unable to accommodate your request to listen in on the meeting.” Our follow-up requests simply fell on deaf ears, which is surprising considering that some directors have long experience with JSE-listed counters.
Quantum is not the first or the last listed company to exclude the media from proceedings. It’s not illegal.
Officially, the JSE, as a listings authority, does not have a policy or a requirement dealing with media attendance at AGMs. But 99% of listed companies seem quite happy to have the media present.
Denying AGM access to the media — who should always be observers, not participants, at an AGM — might well rob interested investors of important nuances and utterances that come about during the normal tête-à-tête between board members and shareholders.
It could be argued that large shareholder arrangements at Quantum have left such a small free float that market interest in Quantum is in any event much diminished … perhaps to the point that the group could be considered a de facto private company.
Maybe. But a series of tense standoffs between the board and certain shareholding groups, as well as one particular eyebrow-raising board change (which was later deemed “unfair, prejudicial and oppressive”… “invalid, unlawful and void”), ought to keep Quantum in the public eye.
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