Henrique Granadeiro’s last shareholders meeting as president of the Portugal Telecom board was never going to easy.
Choosing the vital shareholders’ meeting as his farewell gig, Grandeiro left, visibly shaken and stirred, but the deal with Brazil’s Oi went through with a huge majority of PT shareholders voting for the merger.
The meeting lasted five hours but in the end, shareholders controlling 98% of the embattled company approved the terms of the merger with the Brazilians despite the deal having changed to reflect PT’s damaged cash position. This is due to PT's foolish loan to BES offshoot Rioforte which has cost the telecoms company €897 million.
PT investors took the opportunity to go off message and ask several uncomfortable questions about the PT share price crash brought about by the board’s purchase of bonds in Rioforte which has since gone bust, filing for protection in Luxembourg from creditors.
The Brazilans are keen to get their hands on Portugal’s monopoly telecoms company and will be delighted that the deal, on their terms, has been approved by such a majority.
After the meeting, Grenadeiro said "I defended my company and promoted the welfare of my shareholders."
It is with some regret that he did not do this when running the company and leaves in disgrace at the end of the month.
He failed to answer many important questions put to him by the media, one of which is whether the Brazilians knew of PT’s investment in Rioforte.
Grenadeiro’s leaving statement of “no more statements” did little to endear him to the patient pack of reporters who wanted something of value and interest for the morning's headlines - an apology would have been a good start.
It is hoped by many that Grenadeiro is looking forward to a long and happy retirement from business life, for this is what should await him having presided over such a catastrophic collapse in shareholder value at PT.
Today he was clearly shaken after the meeting and remained determined not to make statements to the media with the exception of his final words that sum up his self opinion, self image and lack of remorse, "I defended my company and promoted the good of my shareholders" which is a quote from Portugal's president Cavaco Silva.
Grenadeiro’s lack of answer to the Rioforte question, “who in the administration knew of the investment in Rioforte?” was "Do not be expecting me to give you an answer because I do not know."
This gives a good insight into the poor calibre of the president and the board that has been running PT. At least Grenadeiro did not complain when he was ‘let go’ although details of his leaving package have yet to be made public.
One final quote, as if one was needed, to illustrate the arrogance, lack of grasp and selfishness of this Portuguese businessman, "I do not have to justify anything, what I had to justify I justified in the general assembly," when asked if he thought the small shareholders would revolt.
