Pearce and Meyerson Join Ranks of AMI Directors

American Medical International’s corporate directors have expanded their ranks to 18 from 16 by electing a major shareholder and the nominee of another major shareholder to the board.

One new board member--Morton H. Meyerson, a 50-year-old Ft. Worth investor--was nominated by Investment LP, a Ft. Worth-based partnership led by Richard Rainwater.

Investment LP owns 7.3% of AMI’s outstanding stock, the third-largest stake in the Beverly Hills hospital chain. The company also elected Dr. M. Lee Pearce, 57, who owns 9.4% of AMI’s stock. Pearce is chairman and chief executive of the Miami-based General Health LP, a hospital consulting firm. By offering the seats, AMI’s board consented to a July 8 request from Pearce, who owns the second-largest block of outstanding AMI shares.

Pearce began to push for the resignation of Walter L. Weisman, AMI’s former chairman and chief executive, after Weisman opposed the board expansion. Weisman resigned under pressure Aug. 30. Royce Diener, a director, has replaced Weisman on an interim basis.

Under Pearce’s original proposal, the four largest shareholders would have been offered seats. AMI’s leading investor--a partnership owned by Sid Bass and other members of the wealthy Bass family of Ft. Worth--has not nominated a candidate. The partnership owns 11.5% of the outstanding stock. The other major investor named in the original Pearce plan--a Houston-based firm called Wedge Group--sold its AMI holdings last week.