James Hardie investors demand swift response to board purge after AZEK deal

By Scott Murdoch

SYDNEY (Reuters) -James Hardie shareholders are demanding the company appoint directors quickly to rebuild trust in the embattled building group after its chair and two directors were dumped by investors angry about its $8.8 billion takeover of AZEK.

Chair Anne Lloyd and directors Rada Rodriguez and Peter-John Davis will leave the board after a majority of investors voted against them at Wednesday's annual meeting.

James Hardie's Australian-listed shares opened 4.5% lower on Thursday, while the S&P/ASX200 index was down about 0.3% in early trading.

The unprecedented board purge at a large Australian-listed company followed James Hardie's decision to seek a waiver from the Australian Securities Exchange that meant its shareholders did not vote on the AZEK takeover. The ASX is revising its rules after sustained pressure from investors following the deal.

Founded in Australia and considered one of the nation's oldest businesses, James Hardie is now domiciled in Dublin and listed on the Australian and U.S. exchanges.

Investors criticised James Hardie for buying U.S.-based building products group AZEK at a time when the country's property market remains volatile. A major share issuance to fund the takeover also angered investors because it would dilute their holdings.

"We did vote against the chair, the board lost the trust of the shareholders by treating them with utter disdain through the AZEK deal," said Prasad Patkar, Platypus Asset Management's head of investments.

"The new appointments to the board and chair will be a good signal to shareholders on whether the company intends to take the message delivered at the AGM today seriously or not."

Lloyd told James Hardie's annual meeting in Dublin the company would work towards soon announcing a new chair and directors. She said the company would engage with its investors on the negative feedback given through the votes.

James Hardie's Australian and U.S.-listed shares are down about 30% so far this year.

"The board and management can go one of two ways, try and live in the real world and try and engage with its owners and rebuild trust," said Raaz Bhuyan, portfolio manager at WaveStone Capital, which voted against Lloyd at the meeting.

"The other approach would be to have their heads in the sand," he said. "The path to redemption is to respect the company's owners."

(Reporting by Scott Murdoch; Editing by Jamie Freed)