Hong Kong-based hedge fund Oasis Management, which has built up a 14% stake in TRG, has hit out at the beleaguered casual dining operator following the announcement last week that Mark Chambers – currently CEO of the group’s Leisure & Concessions division – will take on the role of CFO designate from 1 July and formally take over as group CFO from 15 September.
Daniel Wosner, MD and head of Europe at Oasis, told The Telegraph it was ‘concerning’ that Chambers had worked with Hornby for years prior to TRG, and had not held a chief financial officer role for a decade.
Chambers previously worked under Hornby at the gambling firm Coral, which later became Ladbrokes Coral and eventually GVC Group.
Hornby subsequently left GVC to join TRG in 2019, with Chambers following suit in 2020.
Wosner said: “The company appointed, in a matter of weeks, a candidate who has worked with the CEO at… other companies, and not in a CFO role.
“Was this truly a robust and healthy process to find the best candidate for the company?”
Announcing his appointment last week, TRG said Chambers’s ‘combination of financial and operational experience makes him a strong candidate for the group’s next stage of evolution’.
Responding to Oasis’ comments, a spokesman for TRG told The Telegraph: “The TRG board ran a thorough internal and external search process.”
This latest salvo comes amid an ongoing period of investor pressure for TRG, which owns the Wagamama, Chiquito and Frankie & Benny’s restaurant brands.
Over the past few months, activist investors including Oasis, Coltrane, and TMR Capital have called for change at the company, and protested over the remuneration of directors.
