2 Mar 2015 07:00
02 March 2015
Coms plc
Changes to the Board and Withdrawal of General Meeting Requisition
Update on Dealing by a Director
The Board of Coms plc ("Coms" or the "Company") announces that on 1 March 2015 David Breith informed the Board that he was withdrawing the requisition notice, dated 20 February 2015, to convene a general meeting of the Company. Accordingly, no such general meeting will now take place.
In addition, on 1 March 2015 Mr Breith resigned his position as Chief Executive and as a director of the Company with immediate effect. It is the Board's intention to agree terms with Mr Breith regarding a consultancy arrangement whereby the Company will continue to have the benefit of Mr Breith's knowledge and expertise of Coms. Mr Breith has also granted, subject to formal documentation, a free of charge, 3-year licence for the AskMerlin software used by Coms and owned by Mr Breith. Further announcements will be made in due course.
The Board intends to make senior appointments to the Company's executive management team as soon as practicable and has commenced discussions with several suitable experienced candidates. The Board expects that once terms are agreed these candidates will be ready to start work at Coms without delay.
Furthermore, the Board has resolved to strengthen the Company's board of directors and is currently in discussions regarding the potential appointment of two new non-executive directors.
The Board will make a further announcement regarding the senior management and non-executive appointments in due course.
Frank Beechinor, Chairman, states "I am very pleased that the Board has been able to reach agreement with Dave and that he has agreed to maintain his involvement with Coms. There are a number of challenges facing Coms but I believe that the appointment of a senior experienced management team, supported by staff and Dave as a major shareholder, will help us with the next phase of Coms."
David Breith, states "I have really enjoyed my time as CEO and look forward to working with Coms as a consultant and providing my continued support to the Company. It was a very hard decision for me but it is for the best of the company, its staff and its shareholders."
With regards to the share purchases made in July 2014, Mr Breith has informed the Board that the purchase was made in error and although an immediate attempt was made to cancel out the purchase, this was not successful. Mr Breith has explained that he only became aware that he held the additional shares on 18 February 2015 and has now confirmed that the purchase was carried out a price of 4.239 pence per share. Mr Breith has stated that he did not seek prior permission to deal in Coms' shares as it had not been his intention to do so. Mr Breith stated "I would like to apologise for the genuine error on my part in relation to this low value transaction". Mr Breith is interested in 138,876,455 ordinary shares in the Company, being 14.27 per cent of the issued share capital of Coms.
For further information, please contact:
Coms plc
Frank Beechinor (Chairman) +44 (0) 207 138 3204
Charles Stanley Securities +44 (0)207 149 6000
(Nominated Adviser and Broker)
Karri Vuori / Philip Davies
Blytheweigh
(Financial Public Relations)
Halimah Hussain / Alex Shilov / Tim Blythe +44 (0)207 138 3204
Notes to Editors
Coms is a leading organisation in the provision of end-to-end communication, connectivity and business services:
Business infrastructure
Cloud based solutions
Connectivity
Creative marketing and media solutions
Integrated and hosted telephony
IT support
Mobile
Smart buildings
We put stakeholders at the heart of everything we do, and by innovating and offering other robust technologies our solutions are resilient and cost effective. For more information, please visit: www.coms.com