Brierley's right-hand man quits raider

Mr Weiss is to resign as executive director on April 30, following Sir Ron, who has already foreshadowed his retirement. Although Sir Ron remains a director, he stepped down as chairman in December.

Mr Weiss has been a fixture at the annual meetings of companies targeted by GPG, his famous afro striking fear into the hearts of struggling boards.

But with GPG winding down and selling off its portfolio, it is unlikely Mr Weiss will again be seen delivering his lengthy tirades against company management from the meeting-room floor.

The wind-down has also sparked a rebellion from shareholders who feel the process, first flagged before the financial crisis, has taken too long and delivered too little.

Yesterday the chairman, Mark Johnson, used his statement in GPG's annual report to promise shareholders that the sell-down would deliver an "initial capital return to shareholders of at least A#75 million [$120 million]".

Mr Johnson will also quit the board due to his "other commitments and priorities", GPG said.

The energy group Alinta, formerly owned by Babcock & Brown, appointed Mr Johnson chairman yesterday as it prepares to de-list its shares from the stockmarket.

Alinta's new owners are its former financiers, led by the private equity group TPG, who have swapped $3.5 billion of debt for equity.

The deal saw Alinta security holders, including GPG, which held 19.9 per cent of the company, paid about 10A? a security.

GPG intends to sell off the rest of its investment portfolio, which includes stakes in the developer AV Jennings and Britain's Newbury Racecourse.

This may reduce an investment in GPG to an investment in its haberdashery subsidiary, Coats, Mr Johnson said in his report.

Shareholders will continue to see Mr Weiss at the Coats annual meeting. He is to remain chairman of Coats for at least a year, GPG told the exchange yesterday.