LONDON, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Mike Ashley, the founder and
chief executive of Sports Direct International, was
re-elected to the British sporting goods retailer's board on
Wednesday, though nearly a quarter of independent shareholders
voted against him.
Several shareholder advisory groups had urged investors to
vote against Ashley's re-election at its annual general meeting
after Sports Direct lurched from one crisis to another over the
last year.
Ashley owns 62.7% of the company, according to Refinitiv
data, making his re-election inevitable.
A stock exchange filing showed he received the support of
90.99% of votes cast at the firm's meeting in central London,
with 9.01% against. But that meant just under a quarter of votes
cast by independent shareholders were against him.
In April, Sports Direct failed to prevent department store
chain Debenhams from falling into administration and saw its
equity stake wiped out.
In July, the group warned it could face a 674 million euro
bill from Belgium's tax authority and said last year's purchase
of department store group House of Fraser out of administration
may have been a mistake.
Sports Direct's auditor Grant Thornton has also quit and the
retailer is struggling to find a successor.
Ashley barred media from attending the meeting.
(Reporting by James Davey; editing by Costas Pitas)