Redbus founder to query Bermuda link

Cliff Stanford, the maverick entrepreneur, will challenge the role of a Bermudan company if he loses his battle to take control of Redbus Interhouse today.

Mr Stanford is asking shareholders to oust three members of the Redbus board and install himself as chief executive with Dan Wagner, the former Dialog and Smartlogik entrepreneur, as non-executive chairman.

Investors will be asked to vote the chairman John Porter, the finance director Carl Fry and the managing director Kevin Neal, off the board

Mr Stanford, who helped found the internet hosting company and who owns 25 per cent of its shares but left the board in the spring, says the management team has underperformed and is no longer up to the job.

However he admitted yesterday he faced an uphill struggle, as the other directors also owned 25 per cent.

On Friday a company named as Harbor Advisors LLC A/C Butterfield Bermuda General said it had snapped up 1.4 million shares at 6.15p a share to take its holding to 4.25 per cent of Redbus.

"It is going to be close because we have seen this company buying up quite a large chuck of shares and we believe that there is some connection with John Porter," Mr Stanford said. "We have no details of this connection but John Porter has residency in Bermuda. I assume it is all above board and straight forward but we will be looking at it very carefully."

Redbus was once worth £200m but its value has dwindled to almost nothing. No one from Redbus Interhouse was available for comment.