ARV Stages Meeting Despite Opposition

ARV Assisted Living Inc. scraped up enough shareholder votes to proceed with its annual meeting Friday, despite continuing tensions with its largest shareholder, which didn’t vote. On June 3, the date originally set for the meeting, the Costa Mesa operator of homes for the frail elderly had adjourned the session for lack of a quorum. Its biggest shareholder--an affiliate of New York investment house Lazard Freres & Co., with a 47.9% stake--refrained from voting that day. The company had gathered votes representing 48.8%, short of the quorum of 50% plus one share. The company reconvened the meeting Friday after rounding up votes from additional shareholders. At the meeting, attended by four officials and the company’s outside accountant, ARV reelected three directors to the board, the only official business. The company and the Lazard Freres affiliate are in a legal dispute over expansion plans that is set for a hearing Thursday in Orange County Superior Court.