Just a couple of weeks ago it was all hugs J and Sunday lunch between Charles Allen, chairman of Granada, and Michael Green, chairman of Carlton. They had won approval from the Competition Commission to merge their companies into a single ITV, and wanted to show investors that they could work together despite a history of mutual dislike. Yet last week, a group of shareholders who collectively own 36% of Carlton and 33% of Granada demanded that Mr Green resign as chairman of the merged television company. Mr Green was given until noon this Tuesday. Unless he agreed to quit, the shareholders threatened to enforce their will at an emergency company meeting. Mr Green's only hope lay in Granada's support, but on Tuesday morning Mr Allen abandoned him. Big investors had been plotting a change of management at ITV for many months, but needed to wait until the competition authorities had decided what to do about the merged company's dominance of the advertising sales market. The only surprising thing about their action last week is that they went after Mr Green, not Mr Allen. Mr Green's position was thought in the City to be safer because he had built up Carlton from nothing, whereas Mr Allen had messed up a com-pany he inherited in good shape.
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