Cronos Australia chief executive Rodney Cocks and executive director Guy Headley have held onto their positions after shareholders voted decisively in their favour, defeating a motion to remove them at the company's annual general meeting.
The resolution to unseat the two executives was brought by Matua Jansen, a cousin of former Cronos director Ben Jansen, but drew only negligible support from shareholders at the meeting held this morning.
Just 12% of votes were cast in favour of the removal, while close to 90% opposed it.
A separate resolution to rename the company Vitura Health passed with near-unanimous support.
Matua Jansen, whose Whanau Family Trust controls a 9.93% stake in the company, had called for "complete separation of the board and executive management".
The resolution faced long odds from the outset, and its prospects were further undermined after Cronos Australia and Ben Jansen publicly resolved their differences in the days before the AGM, bringing an end to a drawn-out and acrimonious dispute between the two sides.
Jansen departed Cronos in September, after which the company alleged "a repeated pattern of inappropriate behaviour, lack of judgment and poor performance".
That prompted Jansen's wife Elizabeth, in her capacity as trustee of the Stanford Investment Trust — Cronos's largest shareholder — to release a statement targeting Cocks and Headley, alleging they received excessive remuneration through a management structure she claimed gave rise to conflicts of interest and "nepotism".
Elizabeth Jansen had initially sought a resolution to have her husband reinstated as a director before dropping those plans in October.
Following last-minute negotiations between the parties, she also withdrew her earlier statement and committed to supporting the board's recommendations, which included keeping both Cocks and Headley in their roles.
In a statement released 24 hours before the AGM, Cronos said both sides had regrets about recent events.
"The company and Benjamin Jansen acknowledge that their previous statements may have caused offence to each other, and both parties regret that the relationship between them had started to erode," it said.
"However, moving forward, Cronos Australia and Benjamin Jansen are both committed to seeing the company develop and grow into a global leader in the medicinal cannabis industry and beyond."
Cronos added: "The parties are pleased to have been able to reach a positive resolution to these matters, enabling the board and management to focus on executing the company's strategic objectives.
"Both parties thank each other for the positive work they have done in resolving their differences. The company wishes Benjamin and Elizabeth Jansen the very best in their future endeavours."
