Under Bapcor's bonnet
To say the shareholder register has become restive would be an understatement.
On Monday, the board of auto parts group Bapcor demoted its executive chairman Angus McKay to CEO – and one who will not even remain a member of the board. Non-executive director Lachlan Edwards was appointed non-executive chairman.
For those in need of a refresher, McKay arrived on the scene in July 2024 after Bapcor had lost three CEOs in fewer than three years and spurned a $5.40 per share takeover offer from Bain Capital (the share price is now $2.24). He was the long-serving chief executive of 7-Eleven Australia, and it turns out that righting an automotive supplies roll-up is a shitload harder than selling slurpees. McKay has already delivered two profit downgrades this financial year and has now lost two key lieutenants.
To say that Bapcor's shareholder register has become restive would be an understatement. Sixteen per cent shareholder, AustralianSuper, is nonplussed. Eleven per cent shareholder, Tanarra Capital, voted against Edwards' election at last month's annual meeting and, back then, demanded the chair and CEO role be separated. Other institutions remain supportive of McKay's turnaround – if, indeed, his efforts to date even rise to that descriptor.
