Chill Brands reinstates CEO as shareholders vote to shake up board

Vape manufacturer Chill Brands announced on Tuesday that it has reinstated its suspended CEO and shaken up its board following a shareholder vote to oust two directors.

On Monday, the company's shares were suspended from trade after its board of directors were "unable to provide the market with an accurate update of its financial and trading position".

That follows an investigation into a number of commercial arrangements it has entered into, along with the allegations surrounding its CEO around the use of inside information, which has been ongoing since 22 April.

Chill has now announced that the preliminary view from law firm Fieldfisher was that the allegations "will not be evidenced to a sufficient degree".

"Consequently, the board have unanimously agreed to discontinue this investigation and reinstate Callum Sommerton as chief executive officer, with full responsibilities for running the day to day operations, with immediate effect," a statement said.

Meanwhile, a general meeting held on Tuesday saw nearly 80% of shareholders vote in favour of all resolutions tabled, which included voting for the removal of chief operating officer Trevor Taylor and chief commercial officer Antonio Russo. Both have been removed as directors, but remain as employees of the company.

The meeting followed a requisition letter sent in April from shareholder Jonathan Swann, who owns a 12.58% stake, who pushed for an immediate change in leadership. The letter came after a near-halving of the stock over the past year.

At the time of the letter, Chill's board said it was "deeply concerned" by the situation but "stands behinds its directors".

In line with the changes proposed by Swann, shareholders also voted to appoint chartered accountant Graham Duncan as the company's new finance director, while capital markets and media strategist Aditya Chathli has been appointed as non-executive chairman.