Ron Brierley resigns from Coats

Sir Ron Brierley at the Guinness Peat Group annual general meeting at Eden Park, Auckland in 2012. Photo / Natalie Slade

Sir Ron Brierley, the prolific corporate raider and founder of one-time sharemarket giant Brierley Investments, has resigned from the board of Coats, formerly Guinness Peat Group (GPG).

In a statement Coats chairman Mike Clasper thanked 77-year-old Brierley for his contribution to the firm.

"Having been appointed to the board as chairman in 1990, and holding that position until 2010, Sir Ron has brought a great deal of leadership, experience and insight to the company," Clasper said. "More recently he has supported the successful completion of the asset realisation programme and the renaming of the company to Coats Group plc together with the board changes made earlier this year. The board joins me in wishing Sir Ron the very best for the future."

GPG rebranded as UK threadmaker Coats last month after exiting its other investments.

As part of the rebranding, directors Rob Campbell, Scott Malcolm and Waldemar Szlezak resigned from GPG.

The company, which posted a 61 per cent drop in annual profit in February, remains listed on the New Zealand and London stock exchanges.

Brierley founded the investment firm that bore his name in 1961.

It listed on the NZX in 1970 and became New Zealand's most high-profile company through the 1970s and 1980s as it carried out takeover after takeover.

At one stage one in every 20 Kiwis owned shares in Brierley Investments.

But its prominence began to wane following the 1987 sharemarket crash as the company struggled with poor investments.

Brierley took control of GPG in the early 1990s after he was dumped as BIL chairman.

GuocoLeisure, formerly Brierley Investments, de-listed from the NZX last year.