Gatemore Capital Management has called for the ousting of Paul Waterman has called for the ousting of Elementis plc (LSE:ELM) CEO Paul Waterman as part of a move to revitalise the chemicals group.
In a letter to chairman John O’Higgins, the activist investor emphasised the need for urgent actions including confirming details around Elementis’ cost-savings programme and conducting a strategic portfolio review to refocus the business and potentially attract buyers.
Gatemore reckons newly-appointed non-exec, Heejae Chae should lead the search for Waterman's replacement.
In a scathing analysis of the latter's tenure since 2016, it said in the letter: "We believe that many of Elementis’ current problems are self-inflicted and demonstrate a continued failure of judgement of the company’s top leadership team, most notably the CEO.
"Since the current CEO Paul Waterman came into the office in 2016, Elementis has delivered subpar total shareholder returns as compared to its peers, despite the share price having been supported by three takeover approaches throughout the period."
In early trading, the stock was up 2% at 140p.
Elementis has yet to comment.