A Tepid Irish Brawl

Shareholders were prepared for a fight at the annual meeting of Independent News & Media, the company that owns The Independent in London and various other papers around the world, in Dublin yesterday. Some may have even hoped for one.

But the agitator, billionaire shareholder Denis O'Brien, didn't show. Despite months of clamoring for the company to dump the money-losing Independent and calling for changes at the top, where Anthony O'Reilly, former C.E.O. of H.J. Heinz has been chief exec since 1973, the only sign of O'Brien was a ream of paper--a report accusing the company of stocking the board with cronies.

"Despite improvements in governance, INM's board maintains essential features that attract charges that amount to 'cronyism' by market parties that act as the eyes and ears of many institutional investors," wrote analysts at Davis Global Research, who were hired by O'Brien.

On the scene, the strongest words thrown about were spoken by O'Reilly, but not that O'Reilly. His son, Gavin, the chief operating officer, called O'Brien a "gnat" who has been "flinging accusations."

INM's board includes former Canadian prime minister Brian Mulroney, Baroness Jay, former leader of the House of Lords, and former Conservative chancellor Kenneth Clarke.

At the end of the day, 27.5 percent of shareholders voted against the reelection of two board members, including Ivor Kenny, chairman of the remuneration committee.

"The Independent has to go, as do other vanity projects," O'Brien said last fall. "If he goes, and The Independent is sold, shareholders will save money. This is a company that is going nowhere."

by Laura Rich