NINGBO JIFENG AUTO PARTS CO., LTD. AMBERG, Germany (Reuters) - Bosnia's Hastor family failed in a bid to get three representatives onto the supervisory board of German vehicle components supplier Grammer (>> Grammer AG) at the annual general meeting of shareholders on Wednesday.
The Bosnian activist investor, with a stake of around 20 percent, sharply criticised Grammer's management, while a rival group with a 15.1 percent stake, led by China's Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts Co (>> Ningbo Jifeng Auto Parts Co Ltd), backed management proposals.
Shareholders representing 67.32 percent of Grammer's equity capital submitted their votes at the meeting, Grammer said.
The Hastor family had demanded three seats on the supervisory board and contested the outcome of the AGM even before the final vote had been counted.
Cascade Investment International GmbH, a company controlled by the family, had accused Grammer's management of market manipulation to help Ningbo Jifeng build a stake.
Grammer has denied the allegation but said the company would see business suffer if the Bosnians increased their influence.
Grammer's management also welcomed Ningbo Jifeng, another supplier of vehicle interior components, as a potential white knight.
Last year a contract dispute between Volkswagen (>> Volkswagen AG) and two of its suppliers controlled by the Hastor family, CarTrim and ES Automobilguss, briefly halted production at more than half of the carmaker's German plants.
(Reporting by Irene Preisinger; Writing by Edward Taylor and Christoph Steitz; Editing by Maria Sheahan, Greg Mahlich)
