Intertain CEO to step down following recent Spruce management issue

The conclusions reached by last year’s mid-December Intertain review of allegations of company mismanagement by short seller Spruce Point Capital Management (see previous report) have been followed by some interesting changes, announced this week.

These involve CEO John Kennedy Fitzgerald stepping down, and chief financial officer Keith Laslop relocating to a new senior management position at Intertain’s Bahamas offices, currently being expanded.

Our readers will recall that Fitzgerald and Laslop were at the centre of shareholder concerns regarding a generous Management Incentive Plan which gave the duo lucrative commissions on new acquisitions made by the Toronto-listed company, and this is referenced by the company in its announcement that Fitzgerald is to step down.

Intertain revealed that the incentive plan is to be scrapped, and that Fitzgerald and Laslop will forego any future payments on the acquisitions. The duo has further agreed to a 25 percent reduction in their golden parachute agreements.

Intertain took the opportunity to reiterate that its independent review committee on the Spruce affair had concluded that there was no justification for the short-seller’s “grossly inaccurate” claims regarding its business.

However, it did find reason for criticism regarding the company’s “inadequate documentation, approvals and record keeping” concerning the management incentive plan.

Fitzgerald explained his agreement to the changes by saying that he and Laslop acknowledged market concerns regarding their MIP commissions, and as a consequence had offered to relinquish their entitlements “to further strengthen our alignment with shareholder interests.”

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