SHB.L Share News (SHB)

(Sharecast News) - A day ahead of its AGM, West End property group Shaftesbury insisted that it has received no direct communication from shareholder Samuel Tak Lee, who was said to be planning on voting against the re-election of the company's bosses.Shaftesbury was responding to press reports suggesting that Lee, who owns a 26% stake in the company, will vote against the reappointment of the chief executive, chief financial officer and chairman and oppose directors' pay packages."The board confirms that it has received no direct communication from Mr Lee in relation to his voting intentions at the forthcoming AGM other than the statement circulated to shareholders on 29 January 2019."That statement indicated his intention to vote against three resolutions which, if passed, would give the directors the authority to allot shares, and to enable them, in certain circumstances, to do so on a non pre-emptive basis."The row between Lee and Shaftesbury stems from a placing that was conducted by the company back in December 2017, the proceeds of which were meant for the acquisition of properties including two sites in Soho.Lee queried the timing of the placing, which was carried out at a 5% discount to the previous day's closing share price, as he argued that the company was not under any financial strain and had more than sufficient liquidity.He said the placing meant that existing shareholders collectively suffered a significant and immediate loss in value of their shareholdings by virtue of the direct equity raising costs and dilutive effect.Lee said share issues like the one undertaken in 2017 are "inequitable and prejudicial" as shares are not offered to all existing shareholders pro rata to their existing shareholdings.He went on to point out that when shares are issued at a discount to the prevailing market price, the only shareholders who benefit are those who are invited to, and able to, participate. In addition, he said the extremely short timeframe within which such offerings are conducted makes them very challenging for non-institutional investors, even if they are given the opportunity to participate.In his statement circulated to shareholders last month, Lee said: "I firmly believe that the placing was motivated by a desire to dilute my interest in Shaftesbury. In that process, other shareholders who were not able to, or did not, take up their due proportion of shares, also suffered dilution of their interests."At 1635 GMT, the shares were down 0.1% to 883p.