Special shareholder plenary meeting should be canceled: Gome

Insiders at China's largest electrical appliances supplier, Gome, said the apology of the company's founder, Huang Guangyu, is not sincere, and that he should not hold a scheduled special shareholder plenary meeting aimed at preventing representatives of Bain Capital to become non-executive directors, according to a report in Tuesday's edition of National Business Daily.

The meeting is planned for September 28, and the sources said that it would worsen the crisis for Gome.

They also said that if Huang were truly remorseful, he should not implement the decisions to be taken at the meeting, and he should allow the company's management team to focus on creating more wealth for Gome.

Huang's letter to the public titled “My Apology and Gratitude” was published on Sunday.

In the letter, Huang said he respects the outcome of his trial, and conveyed his apologies to all those who care about him. He also thanked Gome's management and all its employees.

Huang was arrested in November 2008. He was convicted of bribery, insider trading and illegal operations and sentenced to 14 years in prison in May this year. He was also fined 800 million yuan ($34 million). Huang lost his appeal in August.

One Gome insider who was supportive of Huang said he was concerned that the letter did not mention the issues to be discussed at the special shareholder plenary meeting.

The source also said that Huang – the company's major shareholder – always showed his gratitude to the management team and staff members for their contributions to Gome, and that Huang would not let them take the blame for the mistakes of certain shareholders.

In addition, the insider said shareholders had the right to make proposals during the shareholder plenary meeting, and that canceling the decisions made at the meeting was an infringement on the rights of shareholders.

Source: Global Times