Asda accused of ‘misleading’ MPs overboard
- The move came after the GMB tipped off business committee chairman Liam Byrne
Asda was forced to explain itself to MPs who sit on the grocer’s board after a trade union accused the private equity firm, which backed a £6.8 billion buyout, of misleading Parliament.
The move came after the GMB tipped off business committee chairman Liam Byrne that two TDR Capital directors had quit three Asda boards before giving evidence to MPs this week.
Citing Companies House documents, the GMB said managing partner Gary Lindsay and fellow director Manjit Dale had resigned as directors of Asda on December 19.
Shining a light: GMB tipped off business committee chairman Liam Byrne that two TDR Capital directors had quit three Asda boards before giving evidence to MPs
On the same day, supermarket boss Mohsin Issa, who led the controversial buyout with his brother Zuber, appeared before MPs to defend his control of the company.
The GMB said that “at no time” did Lindsay or TDR disclose to the committee that they were no longer board members of Asda, despite him testifying as a representative of the board.
In his testimony, Lindsay told MPs: “We sit on the board and have opinions on a number of different issues.”
GMB national officer Nadine Houghton said ‘this lack of transparency could raise serious questions about the evidence provided to the committee’.
It also potentially undermines a session with MPs intended to examine the “complex ownership and governance structures” of private equity, she added.
The Issas and TDR own Asda through a labyrinthine web of offshore companies based in Jersey that MPs have struggled to unravel. Lindsay promised them that more disclosure would be introduced, while several offshore subsidiaries would also be renamed.
Asda wrote to Byrne yesterday to clarify that TDR remains committed to Asda and that its representation on the board has not changed.
TDR partner Rob Hattrell had replaced Dale, it added. He joins Lindsay, retail veteran Stuart Rose, City grandee Alison Carnwath, the Issa brothers and a senior executive from former owner Walmart on Asda’s board. However, neither Lindsay nor any other TDR director is listed as a director on Asda’s website.
Lindsay and Dale exited Asda’s subsidiaries as “part of an ordinary rationalization of the corporate structure”, TDR added.