Orco expands board, shareholders back management

PRAGUE, July 8 (Reuters) - Chairman Jean-Francois Ott on
Wednesday pushed through his plan to expand the board of
struggling central European property developer Orco Property
Group (ORCO.PA) (ORCOsp.PR), Ott said.

Orco, hit hard by a collapse of the real estate sector amid
recession in its key markets, has been under a six-month
protection from creditors since March, pending restructuring of
about 1.5 billion euros worth of debt.

The chairman said in a conference call that shareholders
accepted a plan to widen the board to 14 from five members.

"The addition of new members has been adopted with more than
80 percent of the vote," he said, adding that shareholders
representing about 25 percent of Orco stock attended the meeting
in Luxembourg.

Ott said the new board included six independent directors
and three representatives of small shareholders.

He said no shareholders had proposed any motion to remove
the board, despite an earlier call by minority shareholder group
SOS Orco to oust Ott and other managers and reject the board
expansion.

Orco has granted U.S. funds advised by Colony Capital
warrants that could give it up to 80 million euros in fresh
equity capital, subject to the firm's debt restructuring.

Ott said the company continued in talks on a regular basis
with holders of about 50-60 percent of its bonds on the
restructuring terms ahead of a bondholders meeting scheduled for
September.

Orco shares, traded in Paris, Prague, Warsaw and Budapest,
closed 0.5 percent up in Prague at 151.5 crowns. The stock has
lost 96 percent of its value since its 2007 peak but has doubled
from all-time lows in March.
(Reporting by Jan Lopatka; Editing by David Cowell)