The crowd assembled beneath the ornate chandeliers in Saddlers’ Hall in London is expecting a showdown. Sherborne Investors, led by Edward Bramson, a publicity-shy New York activist who has targeted a succession of British money management firms in the past four years, has called this shareholder meeting to oust one member of the board of Electra Private Equity Plc and add Bramson and another candidate as directors.
The management of Electra, one of the U.K.’s oldest private-equity firms, sits up front. Sherborne, having built a 20 percent stake in Electra at the time of this October gathering, has argued in a letter to shareholders that the firm’s leadership is mismanaging its investments, overcharging investors on fees and interest, and underutilizing its cash.
