Allied Minds' co-CEOs and chairman are under pressure from activist investor Crystal Amber despite having only taking their posts in June 2019.

Investment firm Crystal Amber has demanded board changes at life sciences-focused commercialisation firm Allied Minds in a bid to wind down the latter’s portfolio, The Times reported yesterday. The firm has brought forward a second requisition motion that would remove Michael Turner and Joseph Pignato – appointed co-chief executives on the removal of Jill Smith at Crystal Amber’s behest in June 2019. Crystal Amber will also seek to replace chairman Jeff Rohr – also appointed in June – as well as non-executive Fritz Foley. The company argues Allied Minds has failed to act in the best interests of shareholders, citing concerns including inflated head office costs and a failure to return dividends on its profits. Crystal Amber also said it was disappointed to have been excluded from shareholder discussions over distributing proceeds from Allied Minds’ $65.6m exit from Virginia Tech-founded satellite data spinout HawkEye 360 in September 2019. Allied Minds erased $147m from its valuation during 2016 amid write-downs on seven portfolio companies. Operational losses are said to have reached $465m since it was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 2014. Shares have also been impacted by the scrutiny facing investment firm Woodford Investment Management, which Allied Minds once counted as an investor. Crystal Amber’s proposed board replacements would include Mark Lerdal and Stephen Coe as non-executive board directors. Both currently work for clean tech-focused investment firm Leaf Clean Energy, as executive chairman and non-executive director respectively.

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