ARA was successful today in appointing both of its nominated Directors, Joe Gersh and Gary Weiss to the Board of Cromwell.
It was Weiss' third time having a run at the board, narrowly missing out at November's AGM and again at an EGM in March. However with the support of ARA's 27% holding and the Tang Family's 16% holding, the resolutions were passed with 59% for Mr Gersh and 51% for Mr Weiss.
The appointment of 2 Directors demonstrates the control that ARA now have over the Board and the direction of the Group.
The Board's position with respect to the current proportional takeover proposal of ARA will now be tested. Yesterday, ARA extended the Offer period for acceptance of their proportional takeover proposal by a further 2 weeks to the 9th October 2020.
With two Directors now on the Board it will be interesting to see how they behave given the inherent conflicts of interest that may preside.
Cromwell Chair Mr Leon Blitz commented, “Cromwell respects the outcome of the vote, congratulates the nominees on their election and will now induct them as non-independent, non-executive directors.”
“In line with best practice corporate governance, the Cromwell Board will manage potential conflicts as they may arise, as it did with ARA’s previous Board representative.”
“The Cromwell Board looks forward to both of the new directors bringing their respective skillsets and experience to work productively for the benefit of all securityholders equally,” he added.
Head of Germany
Cromwell also announced this week the appointment of Michael Bohde as Head of Germany. Michael will overseeing all of Cromwell’s European business in the country, and join the European senior management team. Michael has more than 17 years’ experience in the real estate industry gained from working in a variety of different roles.
Prior to joining Cromwell, he was Operating Officer at Investa Real Estate and spent seven years as Senior Manager Deal Advisory – Real Estate M&A at KPMG. He also has experience operating in France from his time at DTZ Asset Management.
Mark McLaughlin, Managing Director, Europe at Cromwell Property Group, commented: “Michael joins the German team at an exciting time for Cromwell as we look to continue to build on our excellent progress in 2020. Despite the impact of COVID-19 we acquired three light industrial and one logistics asset for Cromwell European REIT (CEREIT). With the upcoming launch of the Cromwell European Logistics Fund and existing mandates including CEREIT, Germany will continue to be an important market for Cromwell and our investors. Michael’s focus will be on uncovering deal flow across the country and growing assets under management as we continue to push forward with our ‘Invest to Manage’ strategy. We’re delighted to welcome him to the team.”
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