(Reuters) - The largest individual shareholder in Stock Spirits Group (L:STCK) sought to remove the vodka maker's chief executive and named its own nominees to the board to give the company "fresh perspectives" to tackle weakness in its key Polish market.
Shares in the company rose as much as 3 percent to 150 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday.
The shareholder, Western Gate Private Investments Ltd, said it had also proposed that Stock Spirits hire an executive search firm to find a replacement for CEO Chris Heath.
It also wants Heath to step down from the board, saying "the executive management team have run out of ideas about how to stem the ongoing market share losses" hurting the Polish business, which accounts for more than half of its revenue.
Western Gate, which owns a 9.7 percent stake in Stock Spirits, nominated two European drinks industry veterans to stand as independent directors at its annual meeting on May 17.
The shareholder said it would also ask the board to review Stock Spirits' recently revised M&A strategy and to undertake that no deal be conducted without prior shareholder approval.
Western Gate represents the private family office of Portuguese businessman Luis Amaral, owner and CEO of Eurocash (WA:EUR), a wholesale distributor of consumer packaged goods in Poland.
Stock Spirits said it did not believe that "Amaral's and Western Gate's interests on the management and strategy of the company are necessarily aligned with the long-term interests of all minority shareholders as a whole".
Western Gate's move follows a series of meetings with Stock Spirits' board, including the company's detailed review of its Polish operations.
Stock Spirits, with operations mostly in Poland, the Czech Republic and Italy, cut its full-year profit forecast in November, citing falling demand for flavoured vodka and devaluation of the Polish currency.
It also cited tough competition for a steep decline in market share, which Western Gate said had fallen to 26.3 percent at December 2015 from 38.4 percent during its initial public offering in October 2013.
"The executive team consistently blames others instead of being on the ground in Poland addressing the local market dynamics and managing the business," Amaral said.
Stock Spirits competes with privately owned Roust, which bought Central European Distribution Corp in 2013 and Marie Brizard, which is under a new management.
Stock Spirits shares were up 1.4 percent at 147.75 pence at 1023 GMT.