Hunt on for new Telecom director

Telecom chairman Wayne Boyd is understood to be keen to quickly appoint an additional director to the company's board in the wake of continued sniping from disgruntled shareholder Elliott International, but finding a candidate that ticks all the right boxes could prove a challenge.

Mr Boyd told shareholders at Telecom's annual meeting last month that he would like someone with expertise in online business and new media.

There are now no women on Telecom's seven-person board, after Patsy Reddy stood down at the meeting.

Fairfax New Zealand chief executive Joan Withers appeared to discount herself, saying she was fully extended with her current role and directorship of Auckland International Airport.

"I was reappointed last year to AIA and would only ever consider one directorship in addition to CEO responsibilities."

Trade Me founder Sam Morgan has also been mentioned as a possibility, though his experience is firmly confined to online business rather than new media.

The successful Internet entrepreneur might be a popular choice with shareholders and deliver a quick fillip to Telecom's share price, sources say.

But there is no indication Mr Morgan would be attracted to the role.

He has pointedly snubbed Telecom in the past, most famously by auctioning a personal invitation from Telecom to an advanced screening of King Kong to the highest bidder on Trade Me in 2005.

Another executive with Fairfax connections is Jack Matthews, the American-born former boss of Saturn's cable network business in New Zealand, who now heads Fairfax Digital in Australia.

Telecom may feel under pressure to appoint a director who is resident in the country, however, after Elliott made play of the fact only two of its directors were locals when it made its unsuccessful bid to nominate two directors to Telecom's board at the annual meeting.

June McCabe, a former Westpac executive and Maori woman whose directorships include TVNZ, InternetNZ and the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund, has also been mentioned as a possible candidate.

- © Fairfax NZ News