CustomVis rebels eye majority

Former director Simon Gordon says he wants to retain current CEO if boardroom putsch succeeds

30/06/2009

Former managing director Simon Gordon wants to replace the current board of CustomVis

The shareholder group that aims to wrest control of eye surgery minnow CustomVis maintain they are ‘ahead’ of those backing the company at next Monday’s general meeting.

Simon Gordon, former managing director of the company when it floated on AIM back in 2003, says there are manifold reasons why the current board, led by committed founder Dr Paul van Saarloos, should be replaced, but the principle one is that the company is missing out on lucrative European sales. He suggests that if he returns to his former role – retaining 5.4 per cent shareholder van Saarloos for his technical expertise, but not on the board – he will return to a strategy that yielded results at a prior venture.

‘Part of our strategy when we floated was to install the systems with key opinion leaders in Europe. But when they came up with ideas to refine the product Paul took that as an insult and declared that he was going to stop sharing clinical data.’

Gordon, who has a 3.3 per cent stake, views this as the key reason for the Australia-based company’s ‘freezing out’ of Europe. ‘People will not pay a premium price for technology that does not have the right clinical data – that’s a huge flaw in their strategy. We would re-engage with those opinion leaders if we are successful.’

Bombed-out CustomVis, down from 91p at float to 0.25p in January, has claimed the support of the company’s largest single shareholder, serial AIM investor Bob Morton, though Gordon suggests Morton ‘is being very careful with what he says’ and that ‘he encouraged us to submit the requisition’. He adds that the fund manager of the largest institutional shareholder told him ‘I will vote for anything other than the current management’.

The general meeting, which kicks off at 10am on Monday 6 July at the company’s London registered office at Devonshire Square, could be a lively affair.