Shareholders of telecommunications company ETB have elected a new board of directors, while Bogota Mayor Gustavo Petro stands firm on merger plans, Colombian media reported Wednesday.
The shareholders, at a meeting called at short notice, chose Bogota mayor Gustavo Petro and Secretary General of City Hall Eduardo Noriega as the principal board members.
New principal member Gustavo Petro did not attend the meeting, but instead sent a letter attempting to reassure shareholders who have expressed concern over the merging of the company with Bogota’s public utilities companies.
In the letter the mayor said the planned merger of ETB with the public utility electriticy and sewerage companies EEB and EAAB would strengthen the telecommunications firm, whose performance is the weakest of the three.
He must see through his key manifesto pledge to carry out the merger, he added. On January 10, Colombia’s Prosecutor General Viviane Morales announced that Petro is to be investigated for possible financial misconduct. The share price of EEB fell 17% in December when Petro detailed the merger plans.
During the meeting only the board of directors was chosen and nothing was said of the changes to the company’s presidency, which is currently headed by Mario Contretas Amador. The previous president Fernando Carrizosa quit in August 2011 without giving a reason.
Other top directors elected at the meeting include Juan Pablo Morris, Daniel Caicedo Ortiz, Amparo Arbelaez and Antonio Pabon Santander. Those chosen as deputies are Mauricio Trujillo, Carlos A. Garcia, Eduardo Sarmiento, William Ospina, Martha Platas, Ricardo Gomez and Antonio Marulanda.
According to the Wall Street Journal, an official from the mayor’s office said that Petro was meeting with ETB representatives to discuss merger plans, but that a final decision may be months away.
