Carlton Communications has bowed down to shareholder pressure by announcing that Michael Green will step down as chairman designate of the newly merged ITV company.
The broadcaster confirmed that Green has reluctantly given in to continued calls from a coalition of city institutions for him to relinquish his role at the helm of the company that will result from the planned £4.2 billion merger of Carlton and Granada.
The last 48 hours have seen Green’s position became increasingly untenable following increased pressure from institutional shareholders and a distinct lack of support from Granada, which is keen to resolve the ‘present uncertainty’ (see Green Set To Go As Granada Withholds Support).
Green will remain chairman of Carlton until the company is fully integrated with Granada and will be instrumental in negotiating the final terms of the merger with the Department of Trade and Industry.
Carlton said in a statement: “Michael Green as chairman together with the board of Carlton Communications plc remain committed to the completion of the merger and intend to play a full and active role in this process.”
The board of Carlton Communications has also joined Granada in accepting the coalition’s request that an independent non-executive chairman should be appointed to take over from Green following the completion of the merger early next year.
Carlton had originally vowed to stand by its chairman and claimed that a radical change in management could threaten its planned merger with Granada. However, Green’s fate was sealed earlier today when Granada took the decision to side with the institutional investors.
Fears are growing that Granada’s failure to support Green could cause a serious rift with Carlton, which was relying on its merger partner to come out unanimously in Green’s favour and see off the demands of the shareholders.
The merger of Carlton and Granada is far from complete and the two companies still have to work together to convince the Office of Fair Trading by 7 November that they can find a workable way of selling their airtime without distorting the television advertising market (see ITV Cleared To Merge With Sales Houses Intact).
