Listed legal business RBG shares drop as founder calls meeting to remove boss
Shares in listed legal business RBG Holding have dipped again after founder Ian Rosenblatt called for the removal of several executives, including the CEO.
London-listed RBG has two law firms under its umbrella: dispute-focused Rosenblatt and commercial advice speclist Memery Crystal.
The company has struggled to earn a profit since its listing in May 2018, and losses have only accelerated over the past year.
However, this year, its struggles have escalated as its share price has dropped to the single digits. Over the last year, the group’s share price has fallen by nearly 76 per cent.
When RBG reported in May that it had lost more than £11m last year, its share price continued on a downward spiral. By early November, shares in the legal business were trading at the lowest-ever level, well under 2p.
Speaking at the time, Dan Coatsworth, investment analyst at AJ Bell, stated that “RBG looks to be in a perilous state”. He added that “it’s hard to imagine that RBG can justify keeping its AIM listing given the tiny market value of the business unless trading radically improves.”
However, it had a small recovery in early December, jumping from 1.63p to trading over 3p, hitting its highest of 3.20p on 9 December, before dipping to 2.90p for most of December.
Now its shares have slightly fallen again, to below 2.90p.
Days before Christmas, shareholders were notified that the board of RBG received a requisition notice from Ian Rosenblatt requesting a general meeting to consider the removal of the CEO and two current non-executive directors.
It was reported in October that Rosenblatt has been demanding the removal of chief executive Jon Divers, who joined the company in 2022.
He threatened to call an extraordinary meeting of its shareholders unless Divers was sacked. The names of the two non-executives were not mentioned, but the group has three : Marianne Ismail, Patsy Baker, and David Wilkinson.
Rosenblatt still owns more than 20 per cent of RBG’s stock, and according to its shareholder reports, the level of directors remuneration paid out over 2023 was to the tune of £3.6m, which included over £2m to Rosenblatt personally.
In its notice to the shareholders, the board stated it would convene the requisite meeting in accordance with the statutory timelines.
“The board does not believe these resolutions are in the best interests of all shareholders and will make a further announcement in due course. Shareholders are advised to take no action at this time,” the announcement stated.