Some Cosalt shareholders have accused company chairman David Ross of trying to take ownership of the business at a discount price.
Mr Ross has hit back at his critics, saying that without his intervention the company would have collapsed.
A number of private investors in the engineering business, which employs 250 people in Aberdeen through its offshore division, are unhappy with his 0.2p-per-share offer, which valued the company at less than £1million.
Carphone Warehouse co-founder Mr Ross said yesterday that if he did take Cosalt private he would take on the firm’s multimillion-pound debts and pension deficit. He also said he had given the company a £5million loan facility to keep it afloat while shareholders considered his offer.
An extraordinary meeting will be called in the coming weeks where shareholders will vote on Mr Ross’s plans to take the firm private. Mr Ross needs the backing of 75% of investors to de-list Cosalt.
His offer was declared unconditional earlier this month after he gained control of 54% of the shares. One north-east shareholder said: “Mr Ross tells me that he intends to take the company private and, unless I accept his derisory offer by the end of the month, my investment will in effect be worthless.”
Another investor branded Mr Ross’s offer “ridiculously low”.
Mr Ross said: “As a result of money I have put into Cosalt, the business is on a sound financial footing and is now in a position to grow and respond to the needs of customers. Before Christmas, it was not in that position and the only person willing to put any money in was me.”
Mr Ross said that without his intervention the company would have collapsed, leading to 250 redundancies in Aberdeen.
He said: “A company that cannot pay its debts or its staff is bust, and that was the situation we were in before Christmas. In that context, being in business is better than the alternative, and the alternative was very stark.”
On January 11, Cosalt said the £5million loan provided by Mr Ross, which was due to expire, had been extended to June 30 or until fresh agreements were reached with its banks.
He is the third generation of his family to have an interest in Cosalt. His grandfather, Carl Ross, bought the Great Grimsby Coal, Salt and Tanning Company, which later became Cosalt, after World War II. The business was founded by shipowners in 1873 to supply products allowing fishermen to do their work efficiently and safely and was listed on the stock market in 1971.
David Ross made his fortune after Carphone Warehouse floated 11 years ago.
The businessman had a £39million windfall when the company he co-founded joined the Stock Exchange, while his remaining share of the retailer was valued at hundreds of millions of pounds.
His wealth has since grown and was estimated to be about £450million in this year’s Sunday Times Rich List.
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