Bizon takes over as Hopkins goes from role in messy circumstances
Carl Bizon is taking over as CEO of truck and car smash repair juggernaut AMA after the firm and its CEO parted ways, the company reports.
According to AMA, Andrew Hopkins left the position yesterday.
The move comes in contested circumstances and now the company’s board is demanding his resignation from that body as well.
“The board is pleased to announce the appointment of Carl,” company chair Anthony Day writes in a release to the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX).
“Carl is a proven senior executive with extensive leadership skills and experience to successfully lead the business s to its full potential.
“Having been a non-executive director of AMA since February 2019, Carl knows the business well and it will allow a seamless leadership transition.”
Read about AMA’s latest acquisition and strategy, here
The release quotes Bizon as expressing his confidence in AMA’s future.
“The business is well position to capitalise on growth opportunities, despite the uncertainty created by the pandemic,” he says.
“I look forward to working with the AMA leadership team to deliver continued growth and development of the business.”
The falling out of AMA and Hopkins has been playing out in the mainstream business press, with the latter claiming he is being “oppressed as a minority shareholder” and the company insisting it is acting on “a protected disclosure from an individual employed by the Company” that led it to engage accountancy “McGrath Nicol to undertake an independent forensic investigation”.
Late last month, Hopkins gained an urgent Federal Court application resulting in a temporary order that not be dismissed.
That particular issue appears to have resolved, with AMA advising the market of Hopkins’ resignation as CEO and that it is seeking recovery of $1 million.
Bizon is in in line for a gross salary of $900,000 plus performance rights, the company reveals.