NMT. 'Safer at the Sharp End'.

The Telegraph. 15-09-2005.

Kalms squeezes into chair of syringe maker NMT
By Harry Wallop (Filed: 15/09/2005)

Former Dixons chairman Lord Kalms of Edgware has become chairman of a small, failing Scottish syringe maker, NMT, after an ill-tempered extraordinary meeting.

Volvere, an investment company chaired by Lord Kalms and a 26pc shareholder in NMT, managed to persuade shareholders to ditch the company's board and elect three Volvere directors in their place. Volvere narrowly won the vote, with 2.62m shares supporting their proposals and 2.48m against.

Private shareholders angrily questioned the Volvere directors about their plans for NMT, with some accusing them of only being interested in the company's £6.5m cash pile.

Jim Macdonald, a private shareholder at the meeting held at Livingston football club, said: "I'm feeling disgusted today. It was a takeover by sleight of hand. They [Volvere] have 26pc of the shares and have taken control of this company by the backdoor. I think that is shameful."

Jonathan Lander, Volvere's chief executive and one of the new NMT directors, said: "The private shareholders there were a pretty negative bunch." He described Mr Macdonald as "ranting".

NMT, which floated on Aim in 1997, has suffered a series of setbacks, most noticeably the loss of a major contract with drug giant Roche in 2003.

Mr Lander said he would write to shareholders "very soon" about his plans for the company saying: "We want to make money for shareholders." He added that he would also continue a dialogue with Zi Medical, a company chaired by pharmaceuticals entrepreneur Sir Chris Evans, which has expressed an interest in NMT.

Some shareholders said Volvere's directors, especially Lord Kalms, were unqualified to run a medical devices company but Mr Lander said: "Stanley Kalms sold 1m computers a year but I bet he couldn't make one.

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