Leighton chairman quits over independence clash

Leighton Holdings chairman Stephen Johns resigned along with two non-executive directors at Australia's largest construction company, citing a dispute with its controlling shareholder Hochtief.

"They have resigned following what they perceive to be a breakdown in relations with the major shareholder Hochtief and their view that Hochtief no longer supports an independent board," the company said yesterday.

Leighton shares fell the most in almost two years in Sydney after the resignation of Johns, who was appointed in August 2011, a day before Hamish Tyrwhitt was named as the company's new chief executive. That change was not driven by Hochtief or its own controlling shareholder, Spain's ACS Actividades de Construccion y Servicios, Johns said at the time.

Leighton, based in Sydney, was an independent company and if conflicts of interest arose, then independent directors would "act accordingly", Johns said at the time.

"This is pretty extreme action," said Jeremy Hook, who helps manage about A$250 million (HK$2 billion) as the investment director of TMS Capital. "Anyone who'd be appointed hereafter would find it very, very difficult to present a proper, independent approach."

Christian Gerhardus, an Essen, Germany-based spokesman for Hochtief, did not immediately reply to an e-mail sent outside office hours seeking comment. A call to his office telephone was not answered.