The board of speciality bakery giant Aryzta has agreed to remove five of the current eight directors from the board at the upcoming AGM next month. In a statement last week, Aryzta announced that it would not be supporting the re-election of Mike Andres, Greg Flack, Jim Leighton, Tim Lodge and Alejandro Legarda Zaragüeta to the board of the company.

The move follows calls by two of Aryzta’s largest shareholders, Cobas Asset Management and Lodbrok Capital, to remove a number of US-based board members. The decision to oust these board members is a further hint that Aryzta is leaning towards exiting its troubled US business altogether.

Lodbrok Capital has instead proposed Jürg Riboni, a former CFO of Swiss dairy group Emmi, and Gordon Hardie, a Co Cork native who previously worked with global commodities giant Bunge, to the board of Aryzta.

If Aryzta does move to divest its business in the US, it makes sense to replace the current American influence on the board with directors from Europe, which will become its core market by some distance.