(Adds detail, background)
LONDON, May 7 (Reuters) - Three investors in easyJet
have thrown their weight behind the British airline's management
in their battle with the founder and biggest shareholder Stelios
Haji-Ioannou over a 4.5 billion pound plane order.
The dispute is due to come to a head on May 22 when the
results of an investor vote on whether to remove easyJet's chief
executive, chairman, chief financial officer and another
director will be made public.
The vote, forced by Haji-Ioannou, is a proxy vote on
management's strategy to still buy more planes from Airbus
, one of many areas of broader corporate conflict
sparked by a race to save cash during the pandemic.
Haji-Ioannou, whose family own just over a third of the
stock, wants the airline to scrap the plan to buy 107 new
planes, arguing that the coronavirus pandemic means the carrier
cannot afford them and they won't be needed.
INVESCO, which according to Refinitiv data owns 10% of
easyJet's shares and is its No.2 shareholder; Ninety One UK
Limited, which has 5.2% and is No.3 on the list plus Phoenix
Asset Management, with 3.3% and the fifth-biggest, all said they
were backing management in the vote.
To win the votes, Haji-Ioannou's resolutions need backing
from over 50% of the shares voted.
EasyJet has agreed to defer the delivery of 24 of the new
aircraft, but its chairman John Barton says it needs to stick
with the order to modernise its fleet and because any
termination would be costly. He has added that removing
directors at this time would be "damaging and destabilising".
EasyJet published the investor letters supporting its
management on its website.
(Reporting by Sarah Young; editing by Stephen Addison)
easyJet (EZJ)
