The board of Stock Spirits has decided to back proposals from Portuguese businessman Luis Amaral, as opposed to requests from chairman David Maloney, who urged the company to keep Amaral’s candidates off the board of Stock Spirits.

Maloney requested that other investors reject the names of two candidates proposed by Luis Amaral, who has an almost 10% stake in Stock Spirits; however the chairman lost his case at the annual general meeting by a small margin.

"Maloney stated that he will look for a constructive working relationship with the newly appointed directors."

Approximately 56% of investors backed the appointment of Alberto Da Ponte and former PepsiCo manager Randy Pankevicz to the board.

Maloney stated that he will look for a constructive working relationship with the newly appointed directors. 22% of the shareholders did not support the re-election of Maloney.

Despite these new appointments, the board plans to go ahead with the appointment of two new independent non-executives, as it does not consider executives backed by Amaral to be independent.

Maloney had alleged that Amaral intended to secure influence over Stock Spirits through these appointments, which would benefit Eurocash, a wholesaling company in which Amaral has a stake, reported the Telegraph. These claims were refuted by Amaral.