Brexiteer Arron Banks is said to be launching a shareholder coup at an iodine manufacturer in a bid to ‘take advantage of the Coronavirus’ outbreak.
The Telegraph reports that the billionaire Leave-backer wants to see Iofina’s non-executive chairman Lance Baller replaced, and wants to join the board alongside others including his brother John Banks.
The newspaper reports that Banks wants to see the company ‘take advantage’ of Iodine’s use as a disinfectant during the Coronavirus.
The business owns the technology to transform brine water to iodine and has the rights to produce the waste product from gas in an Atlantis field in Montana.
It produced more than 600 metric tonnes of iodine in 2019.
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Banks is said to believe the company has made “strategic blunders” under the existing boss, which relate to the company’s strategy and finances.
He previously called for governments to work with the business: “Given that there are already shortages of sanitising disinfectants, which are not as effective as iodine-based disinfectants, the US and UK governments should immediately team up with companies that produce these products and make them available to the world.”
He is expected to write to the firm’s board demanding a shareholder meeting for a vote over his plans.