Ed Bramson leaks private mail in board battle with Electra

There is to be a shareholder vote next Thursday, which will decide whether Mr Bramson and his colleague, the former PwC chairman Ian Brindle, can join the board

Edward Bramson is the founder of Sherborne Investors, which owns 30 per cent of Electra

Ed Bramson, the activist investor, turned up the heat on Electra yesterday, by making public his correspondence with the private equity group’s board.

Mr Bramson, who is trying to win two boardroom seats through his firm Sherborne Investors, published emails, letters and internal memos online, showing he has not asked for control, in an attempt to undermine Electra’s fightback against him.

There is to be a shareholder vote next Thursday, which will decide whether Mr Bramson and his colleague, the former PwC chairman Ian Brindle, can join the board. Electra has urged shareholders to vote down the proposal.

“The board’s claims of inaccuracy depend in large part on the characterisation of materials that Electra has in its possession and shareholders do not,” Mr Bramson said in a letter. “It seems careless for the board to risk exploiting its information advantage when Sherborne Investors can expose these materials by making them public.”

A letter from Roger Yates, Electra’s chairman, telling an unidentified shareholder it had been referred to the Takeover Panel over suspicions of collusion, is also included, with a memo from a 75-minute board meeting between Electra and Sherborne where the direction of the company was discussed.

Mr Bramson’s move was timed to coincide with the publication of Electra’s full-year results yesterday, which had been moved forward from late November.

Diluted net asset value per share was 3,914p for the year ending in September, representing a total return of 25 per cent, beating the FTSE All-share index, which fell 2 per cent. Electra’s shares rose 75p to 3,710p.

Mr Yates also denied the board had been held hostage by its fund manager offshoot. Mr Bramson has previously accused the board of paying too much in fees to its fund manager Electra Partners. “It’s just ridiculous. The board is independent,” Mr Yates said. “If the manager doesn’t deliver, we hold their feet to the fire, but these results show the manager has been delivering.”

Electra has assets valued at about £1.5bn, which include TGI Friday’s and The Original Bowling Company.

The FTSE 250 firm also announced a final dividend of 78p a share, taking the total for the year to 116p.

The company said new investments had been “slower” this year due to its discipline on costs.

Electra Partners’ Alex Fortescue also said Mr Bramson’s presence had affected investing. “It’s definitely made it more difficult, and having an activist investor with a different style makes it harder to make an investment. Every question [from vendors] starts with: ‘What about Sherborne?’ I’d argue if we are hostage to anyone, it’s Mr Bramson,” he said.