According to documents obtaind by Bloomberg, the shareholders of GSW Immobilien AG have been advised to vote against the proposal to dismiss newly installed CEO Bernd Kottmann.
The advice was given by Glass Lewis & Co LLC, the proxy advisory service based out of San Francisco, CA. It informed its investors that it should opppse the no-confidence vote being proposed to be made against the CEO on its meeting on June 18. It did propose though that Chairman Eckart John von Freyend should be removed for the irregularities attendant to the hiring of the CEO.
In another advisory provided by Institutional Shareholder Services Inc., the proxy advisor firm said shareholders should also oppose the move to remove Chairman Eckart John von Freyend because of the manner wherein Koffman was hired as CEO. The firm based out of Rockville, MD said that both men should be retained in the company.
Glass Lewis said, "Through lack of transparency and poor shareholder engagement, the entire recruitment process has been shrouded in confusion and speculation."
CEO Freyend for his part said, "We are surprised Glass Lewis formed an opinion without contacting us and asking about the background. The board feels vindicated by the ISS recommendation."
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