Flybe agrees shareholder vote on chairman's future

Flybe Group has agreed to demands from its largest shareholder to call a general meeting to consider replacing Chairman Simon Laffin following the cut-price sale of the British regional airline. The U-turn on Monday by Flybe, which had rejected the call by Hosking Partners last week, boosted its shares as much as 30% in early trade before paring the gains to trade up 10.7% at 3.56 pence at 1040 GMT. Virgin Atlantic, Stobart Group and Cyrus Capital agreed to buy Flybe for an initial GBP2.2m, a far cry from its 215m pounds valuation when it joined the London Stock Exchange in 2010. Hosking, which opposes the deal, had last week also called for the appointment of industry veteran Eric Kohn as a director and a probe into the sale process, citing a decline in Flybe’s value and the board’s handling of the sale process. On Monday, Flybe said it would interview Kohn and make a recommendation on his candidacy for the board to shareholders but reiterated that a resolution for him to investigate the sale process would be ineffective as it was not allowed under the company’s Articles Of Association. Kohn would “enjoy the usual rights to information and freedoms of action enjoyed by all directors,” it said.<br/>