Esprit votes to dump Anderson

Esprit Telecom has succeeded in dumping its co-founder, Walter Anderson, from its board of directors.

At an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) held in London today, Esprit said 64 per cent of the 88 per cent of shareholders who voted, chose to see the back of Anderson.

Another side of the acrimonious dispute between the current team of executives and Anderson also concluded with shareholders voting against Anderson's proposals for the sacking of David Oertle, Esprit chief executive and director, Sir Robin Biggam, its chairman, and John McMonigal and Dominic Shorthouse, both non-executive directors.

Although the votes show only about 56 per cent of all Esprit shareholders actively sought to push out Anderson, the company took heart in the statistic that - if votes cast by Anderson and his Gold & Appel Transfer vehicle were put to one side - more than 90 per cent of votes were in favour of retaining Oertle. Warburg Pincus and Apax Partners, two venture capital firms that have invested in Esprit, also put their weight behind Oertle.

In a post-EGM statement, Esprit chairman Sir Robin Biggam said: "The shareholders of Esprit Telecom have made their views clear. We are most gratified that, with this vote, the management will be able to move forward with its plans to capitalise on its strong position as one of Europe's leading independent telecommunications companies."

Esprit, which bills itself as a pan-European telco, reported healthy fourth quarter results at the end of last week. Pre-tax quarterly profit jumped 86 per cent to £7.8m on revenue of £33.3m. Profits and revenue for the financial year ended 30 September stood at £17.1m and £82.6m, up 55 and 82 per cent respectively.

Biggam, in an effort to help make sure today's outcome, commented the results show "the right senior management is in place to realise the potential created by Esprit's early lead in the growing European telecommunications market".