Jacob Corlett (pictured), entrepreneur and owner of tech-based delivery firm Shift, who led an aborted rescue deal for Yodel last year, is part of a group of warrant holders who have filed a formal demand for Yodel shares they claim to own.
If granted, the move would give the group a 70% share of Yodel.
Warrant holder Mike Pearson, a venture capital executive at Fuel Ventures, said Yodel’s performance had “deteriorated” under chief executive Mike Hancox’s leadership.
He added: “The warrant-holders collectively agree that Yodel is a strong UK logistics brand turning over £550m annually, but a change of ownership and direction is required.
“That is why we have decided now is the right time to demand our equity.First and foremost, change is needed.”
Yodel has fiercely rejected the warrant holders’ claim. A spokesman said: “We utterly refute the validity of these purported warrants.”
He added: “Yodel has no record of these warrants in its legal records. These warrants have been received from two entities who are parties to a high court claim issued by Yodel in which serious allegations with regard to breach of fiduciary duties and misappropriation of company funds are made.
“Judge Logistics Limited remains the 100% shareholder of Yodel and there is no change of control at Yodel.”
This claim comes as it emerged this week that a large group of creditors have joined forces to try to retrieve £8m from Corlett, following the collapse of one of his companies, Shift Trading, in June this year. The company went under owing more than £8m to over 100 creditors, including £2.2m to HMRC.
Details of the legal case being brought against Corlett by Mike Hancox, former Yodel chief executive, have also emerged this week.
The legal case refers to the botched acquisition of Yodel by consortium YDLGP, in February last year, which was led by Corlett. Hancox was Yodel’s chief executive at the time.
However the relationship between Corlett and Hancox quickly soured, the takeover collapsed within five months and Yodel was eventually bought by Judge Logistics, which is backed by a consortium of investors and now headed up by Hancox.
The court papers allege that Corlett breached his fiduciary duties as a director of Yodel, extracted significant sums of money out of Yodel, used the attempted merger to “misappropriate” assets, “proceeded on a course of asset stripping” after agreeing to buy Yodel and used the company’s money to pay off debts to Shift’s suppliers.
The papers also reveal that Yodel accuses Corlett of attempting to evade tax by taking money from Yodel and putting it into an offshore company that lists its directors as Corlett and his mother.
The documents also accuse Corlett of not revealing Shift’s “precarious” financial situation, during acquisition talks.
The papers also allege Corlett signed Yodel up to a software deal with Shift on “manifestly uncommercial” terms that is costing Yodel up to £18m a year.
They also claim Corlett issued £2.6m worth of “fictitious” invoices for fees relating to licensing fee arrangements which were used “to extract money in order to confer benefits on Shift Group and himself”.
Corlett denies all of these claims.
In his defence he lays the failure of the merger at Hancox’s door, insisting he was not directly involved in any of the circumstances alleged by Yodel.
Corlett is counter claiming for the payment of his outstanding consultancy fees, the value of his notice period and the value of the 10% shareholding in Judge Logistics, which he says he was promised.
In a statement Corlett said: “Seven months ago we completed a restructure after the Yodel merger was cancelled without notice. Yodel cancelled all contracts with Shift and didn’t pay outstanding balances, topics which are the subject of litigation.”
He added: “The recent press interest in Shift, and today’s questions regarding its historic corporate activity, has led the board to believe there is a smear campaign in motion to distract from other legal proceedings against Yodel’s chief executive, Mike Hancox, and questions over Yodel’s true ownership.”
In a statement Yodel said it is “aware of a number of groundless claims about our business being made by a former director which we refute in their entirety.
“This director’s involvement in our business was short-lived and is now the subject of significant legal proceedings instigated by Yodel.
“Last summer, Yodel went on to conclude a new ownership structure under long-standing CEO Mike Hancox which saw the business backed by a consortium of investors.
“The Yodel business continues to trade strongly in its B2B and B2C markets.”