Activist investment fund Crystal Amber has written to the board of banknote producer De La Rue asking for the current chair to be removed.
According to the fund, Kevin Loosemore should be replaced with private equity veteran Pepyn Dinandt.
Crystal Amber has been a shareholder in De La Rue since 2018 and holds around 9.8% of total issued share capital of the company.
In a stock exchange filing today De La Rue released full details of the letter which was sent to De La Rue on March 30. The fund had earlier detailed its critique of De La Rue in a stock exchange release on March 31.
The letter claims that the three-year turnaround by the company has failed in every measure while a failure to renegotiate banking covenants when renewing its banking facilities represents a gross failing of stewardship.
Crystal Amber also criticised the decision to close the profitable Kenyan print facility rather than seek its sale which Crystal Amber estimated could have raised £10mln.
It noted the closure has also adversely impacted commercial opportunities in this long-established region.
Crystal Amber also queried charges paid to professional advisers and asked the board to provide shareholders with a breakdown of these material costs.
The fund said chairman Kevin Loosemore continues to fail to take responsibility instead blaming external factors and has failed to hold management to account and protect shareholders' interests.
By contrast, Crystal Amber understands that competitors including Oberthur, G&D, Crane NXT and SICPA are trading well.
Commenting, Pepyn Dinandt said: "The last two years have been a disappointing and costly one for a once proud, great British company. The buck stops with the leadership. I believe that if we act quickly, with focus and operational execution, DLR can recover and thrive.”
“It is now for DLR's long-suffering shareholders to decide if they wish to condone this woeful record or seek to end this spiral of destruction of shareholder value."