Further pressure on Sir Charles and the TalkTalk board comes from ISS, the powerful adviser that can command as much as a quarter of a vote. It has advised clients to oppose the chairman’s re-election, along with that of three other directors. It has also urged investors to oppose AGM motions allowing TalkTalk to issue any more new shares. ISS said that TalkTalk’s cash box “circumvented well-established market norms” and that there were also concerns around the independence of the board. Several directors are long-standing lieutenants of Sir Charles, who is the company’s biggest shareholder with a stake of almost 29pc. He is understood to be unconcerned by investor protests as he tries to steer a turnaround. TalkTalk has lost around three-quarters of its market value from a peak three years ago. A recent attempt to further bolster the company’s balance sheet by a sale of business customers to Daisy Group fell through when the buyer failed to raise finance. A TalkTalk spokesman said: “Cash box placings are a recognised means of raising capital and the regulations, which were updated in 2017, allow for companies to raise up to 20pc of their value in this way."
The Investment Association [IA] and ISS are taking action to oust billionaire Sir Charles Dunstone as chairman of TalkTalk following a controversial £200m ($267m) Cash Box placing in February that breached IA guidelines. According to the Sunday Telegraph, the IA has issued a “red top” alert signalling that institutional investors may wish to vote against the re-election of Sir Charles and three other directors at the company AGM scheduled for later this month. The ISS has added its support advising clients to oppose their re-election citing the share sale and concerns over the independence of the board.