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O’Brien throws down INM gauntlet
06 September 2009 By Richard Curran and Samantha McCaughren
Details have emerged of a heated telephone conversation between Denis O’Brien and Independent News & Media chief executive Gavin O’Reilly over the performance of the company.
During the call, O’Brien made it clear that he was up for a ‘‘fight’’ if O’Reilly wanted one. A note of the conversation attributed O’Brien with saying that he would destroy O’Reilly and his father, Tony O’Reilly , and ‘‘go after everything’’.
O’Brien was speaking from Ibiza on a conference call, and an official INM note of the call is believed to outline in detail Gavin O’Reilly’s recollection of what was said. A spokesman for O’Brien declined to comment on what was said during the call.
The unguarded comments by O’Brien underline the extent to which relations have deteriorated between the businessman, who is the second-largest shareholder in INM, and the company’s management. The call was followed up three days later with an official five-page letter from O’Brien to the company, seeking an egm on a number of points, including board changes and a halt to the sale of the company’s African outdoor advertising business.
This weekend, Gavin O’Reilly said: ‘‘The matters facing INM are very serious and this is a time for serious behaviour, not what appears to be a personal vendetta that is directly impacting stakeholder value. If Mr O’Brien has a constructive proposal to put to shareholders, let’s hear it, before asking shareholders to abandon an agreed road-map to financial stability.
‘‘Conversely, if Mr O’Brien’s aim is to unilaterally wrestle control of this company for his own benefit, then he should avoid the back door and make a transparent bid for the company."
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