Barington nominates Mitarotonda and two others as directors at Matthews
Updates with comment from Matthews in paragraphs 3 and 7
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK, Dec 19 (Reuters) -Activist investor Barington Capital Management nominated its founder, James Mitarotonda, and two other executives with public board experience as director candidates at casket maker Matthews International MATW.O.
In addition to Mitarotonda, Barington nominated Ana Amicarella, who currently serves on the boards of Forward Air FWRD.O and Warrior Met Coal HCC.N, and investment industry veteran Chan Galbato, who runs Cerberus Operations and Advisory Company and served on the board of grocer Albertsons ACI.N until recently, Barington said.
"The Matthews board and management team are committed to serving in the best interests of all our shareholders," the company said.
Barington owns about 2% of the outstanding stock of Matthews, which makes products for cemeteries, funeral homes and crematories. It wants the company to replace Chief Executive Joseph Bartolacci, who has been running the company for nearly two decades, the hedge fund said last week.
It also wants Matthews to consider divesting its SGK Brand Solutions segment, follow through with its review for its Warehouse Automation and Product Identification businesses and find a partner for its Energy Storage (dry cell lithium-ion battery) manufacturing business.
Three Matthews directors who sit on the 11-member board are expected to stand for reelection at the company's annual meeting early next year. Barington also wants the company to ensure that all directors stand for election annually and plans to submit a proposal to declassify the board.
Matthews said last week that its business outlook is strong. It previously announced it had hired JPMorgan Chase JPM.N and was exploring strategic alternatives. That news pushed the stock price up more than 20%. "As the evaluation of strategic alternatives underscores, we will continue to take actions that are in the best interests of driving long-term value creation for all our shareholders," the company also said.
Since January, the company's shares have lost nearly 25% to close at $27.77 on Wednesday.
Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in New York; Editing by Matthew Lewis and Jonathan Oatis
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
