Three decades down the track, Flight Centre founders lose right to choose
Flight Centre’s founders have been given more freedom to sell their shares in the company after a deal struck in 1995, giving each pre-emptive rights over each other’s stake, finally lapsed.
Flight Centre's founders get more freedom to sell their shares (Photo: AAP Image/Glenn Hunt)
The deal meant that if either of the three, Graham Turner, Geoff Harris and Bill James, wanted to offload their shares they would have to offer them to the fellow founders first.
The deed was set in the days before the company listed on the ASX.
However, Harris and James have little to do with the management of the company having left the board 20 years ago.
“Subject to limited exceptions, these rights restricted the founders from disposing of their shares unless those shares were first offered to the other founders on a pro-rata basis,” the company said.
“Following the termination of the deed,the founders ceased to have a relevant interest in the other founders’ Flight Centre shares.”
That has meant the founders ceased to have a relevant interest in others’ shares.
