ASX suspends Donaco after major leadership shakeup

The Australian Stock Exchange suspended trading of Donaco International on Monday after a bloodbath at the Annual General Meeting left the firm without the minimum two directors residing in Australia, reports Asia Gaming Brief.

At the AGM, investors removed Stuart McGregor as chairman and rejected the membership of both industry veteran David Green and Yugo Kinohsita of Aruze. This followed the announcement of the intended resignation of long-time Donaco General Counsel and Company Secretary Ben Reichel shortly before the meeting.

These developments left Hong Kong-based hedge fund manager Argyle Street Management controlling the board after its two members, Leo Chan and Kurkye Wong, were the only incumbents to be reelected. They have been joined by Rod Sutton, newly elected as an independent non-executive director.

Shareholders also rejected the board’s motion to change the company’s name to Pan Asian Leisure Limited.

Shortly before his fall, then-chairman Stuart McGregor used his AGM address to state that “the financial performance of the company during the past two financial years has been unacceptable.”