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German investors press Holzmann chief to resign

FRANKFURT: A German shareholders' group added its voice on Monday to calls for troubled construction giant Phillipp Holzmann AG's supervisory board chief Carl von Boehm-Bezing to resign.

Klaus Nieding, managing director of Deutsche Schutzvereinigung fuer Wertpapierbesitz (DSW) told Reuters that Boehm-Bezing's resignation was the only sensible move he could make following last year's 4.3 billion mark government-backed bail-out that pulled Holzmann from the brink of insolvency.

Boehm-Bezing has repeatedly rejected calls for his resignation, saying he was only aware of the 2.4 billion marks in losses that threatened the firm, Germany's second-largest construction group, shortly before Holzmann made them public in November.

Boehm-Bezing also sits on the management board at Deutsche Bank AG DBKGn.DE, one of Holzmann's largest shareholders with a near 15 percent stake. A Deutsche Bank spokesman declined to comment.

On Sunday, Holzmann's largest shareholder, Belgian holding company Gevaert GEVNte.BR, said it would support a motion brought by DSW to remove Boehm-Bezing at a shareholder meeting planned for February or March.

Holzmann's crisis has already claimed the jobs of Chief Executive Heinrich Binder and Chief Financial Officer Rainer Klee.

The capital measures approved last week at an extraordinary shareholders' meeting will reduce Gevaert's stake to less than 15 percent from around 30 percent and boost Deutsche Bank's to almost 30 percent from around 15 percent, according to Holzmann.

About 32 percent of the firm's shares will be owned by Holzmann's other creditor banks with approximately 23 percent owned by smaller shareholders, Nieding said.

With the new stakes, it remains uncertain whether those seeking Boehm-Bezing's departure at the meeting will be able to garner the three-quarters majority of votes required, Nieding added.

A Holzmann spokesman declined to comment on the fresh calls for Boehm-Bezing's resignation.