(Reuters) - Activist investor Elliott kept up the pressure on French spirits group Pernod Ricard, welcoming this week's first-half results but calling for boardroom changes and better margins. Elliott, which has built a stake of just over 2.5 percent in Pernod Ricard, has called on the family-backed group to raise profit margins to bring them more into line with British rival Diageo...
When it comes to defending a company against an agitated investor, the devil you know may be better than the devil you don't. That's the recent mindset among corporations and investors alike when it comes to fending off potential intruders — and it's increasingly blurring the lines of how management views the role of activist investors. Case-in-point is Papa John's International...
LONDON (Reuters) - Activist investor Edward Bramson has submitted an application to join the board at Barclays, the British bank in which his fund vehicle Sherborne Investors holds a 5.1 percent stake. Sherborne invested in the lender in March 2018 with a view to making changes in its strategy and improving shareholder returns. Investors will vote at the bank's annual general meeting on May 2 on the proposal...
TOKYO (Reuters) - Three-quarters of Japanese companies have no plan to create committees overseeing compensation or executive nomination, a Reuters poll found, reflecting indifference to boosting governance after the arrest of former Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn...
MILAN (Reuters) - Activist investor Elliott urged Telecom Italia's board to spin-off its fixed-line network, after Italy's telecoms regulator gave an initial thumbs-down to a Vivendi plan to create a wholly-owned subsidiary instead. AGCOM said on Sunday that the proposal drawn up by former Chief Executive Amos Genish, appointed when French media group Vivendi controlled Telecom Italia's (TIM) board, would not reduce the power TIM has got over the market...
PARIS (Reuters) - French family-backed spirits group Pernod Ricard , which is being targeted by activist investor Elliott, said it is striving to improve its governance and will communicate on future changes once they have been approved by its board. "We have not needed any external input as regards our continuous drive to seek to improve our governance," said a company spokesman to Reuters...
Billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn is building a stake in casino company Caesars Entertainment, sources familiar said. This is a developing story. Check back for updates...
The chairman and chief executive of Debenhams have been ousted from the retailer’s boardroom after two major shareholders – including Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct – voted against them. The chairman, Ian Cheshire, stepped down immediately while the chief executive, Sergio Bucher, will stay on but not as a director...
Persimmon boss Jeff Fairburn is to step down on Monday, bringing to a close a year of controversy over executive pay at the housebuilder. Last month he agreed to quit the FTSE 100 company because of the “distraction” over his controversial £75 million pay-packet, which he said was hurting his and the company’s reputation. The bumper bonus sparked outcry among politicians and shareholders, and was rejected by 48.5% of Persimmon investors in April as they vented their anger over the deal...
Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news ) has rejected an attempt by Edward Bramson, the activist investor, to gain a seat on the board of Britain's third-biggest bank, paving the way for an escalation in hostilities between them in 2019. Sky News has learnt that Mr Bramson raised the idea of Barclays granting Sherborne Investors a board seat several weeks ago, but was told that the lender regarded the move as being inappropriate...
BT is to overhaul the way it sets executive pay after the telecoms giant suffered a revolt over outgoing boss Gavin Patterson’s bumper £2.3 million remuneration. The firm said that, following a rebellion in which 34% of investors rejected its remuneration report in July, it spent time engaging with shareholders...
PARIS/MILAN (Reuters) - French media giant Vivendi called on Friday for the replacement of five of Telecom Italia's board members put forward by U.S. activist fund Elliott, citing a "substantial lack of independence". The move is the latest twist in a months-long battle between Vivendi, which holds a stake of around 24 percent in Telecom Italia (TIM), and Elliott over how to revive Italy's biggest phone group, an underperforming business saddled with 25 billion euros (£22.48 billion) of debt...
Current and former chief executives of mining giant BHP, Dulux paints maker Akzo Nobel (Amsterdam: AKZA.AS - news ) , electronics group Samsung and the consumer goods group Nestlé will know exactly how Alexandre Ricard feels today. All have been targeted in the recent past by Elliott Advisors, the aggressive US activist investor, which on Wednesday announced it had built a stake of more than 2.5% in Pernod Ricard (TLO: RI-U.TI - news ) - the French drinks giant behind The Glenlivet scotch whisky, Jameson Irish whiskey, Ballantine's scotch whisky, Beefeater gin, Martell cognac and Kahlua liqueur - where he is chairman and......
Two FTSE-100 companies with a combined market value of almost £11bn are kicking off the search for new chairs as John McAdam, the veteran industrialist, prepares to step down after more than a decade at the helm. Sky News has learnt that both Rentokil, the pest control and facilities management group, and United Utilities (LSE: UU.L - news ) , the water company, have begun hunting successors to Mr McAdam, who joined both companies in 2008...
Turmoil at Japan's Nissan Motor surrounding allegations of impropriety by ousted chairman Carlos Ghosn raises questions about the oversight role of the company's board of directors, corporate governance experts said this week. Ghosn, long seen as a superstar of the global auto industry, was arrested last month after allegedly under reporting compensation and misusing assets...
(Reuters) - Japan slid three places to seventh in a widely watched ranking of corporate governance in Asia, tying with India but languishing behind the likes of Thailand and Malaysia. The fall is part of a biennial survey by the Asian Corporate Governance Association (ACGA) and CLSA, the Asia-focused brokerage, and comes as governance in Japan is in the spotlight following the arrest last month of Nissan...
United Technologies announced late Monday that it intends to separate into three companies: United Technologies, Otis and Carrier. The company also said it has completed its acquisition of Rockwell Collins and combined that business with UTC Aerospace Systems to form Collins Aerospace Systems. That unit will be part of the United Technologies company after the split...
How General Electric (GE) resolves its debt problem will be "critical" to the wider Investment Grade (IG) market, an analyst said Monday. The General Electric Company has witnessed an exodus of investment from both its equity stock and corporate debt as its future has been called into question. The U.S. behemoth has piled on the debt in recent years as it looked to buy companies, pay off its pension deficit and buy back shares...
In his latest broadside against big business, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., is introducing a bill Thursday that would prevent large companies from buying back stock unless their employees are paid at least $15 an hour. The proposal is aimed squarely at the nation's largest bricks-and-mortar retailer: Walmart, which announced earnings Thursday that beat analysts' expectations though revenue missed forecasts...
Lehman Brothers collapse: where are the key figures now? Sean Farrell Protesters hold signs behind Dick Fuld as he prepares to testify at a House oversight and government reform committee hearing on the Lehman Brothers collapse in Washington in 2008....
Lucy Burton The Prime Minister used a keynote speech in 2016 to pledge that employees will join directors in boardrooms and be given a say in how businesses operate. - AP More Britain’s bosses must prove that they have listened to workers’ views under a long-awaited package of reforms aimed at rebuilding trust in UK business...
The battle of words over the LSE's leadership continues More Hedge fund billionaire Sir Christopher Hohn is showing no signs of dialing back on his campaign to oust the London Stock Exchange's chairman, ignoring the board's plea for him to back down by issuing a scathing dossier...
Investors clampdown on lavish relocation perks ahead of AGM season Lucy Burton Tweet Share Diageo, which is behind Johnnie Walker, the whiskey brand that recently ran an advert with Jude Law, was among the companies to offer relocation packages to staff this year. - Getty Images More Bosses have been told to wave goodbye to lavish relocation packages as investors ramp up their battle against boardroom excess with a clampdown on perks...
An attempted boardroom coup at Johnston Press has been thwarted by a controversial “poison pill” defence that could hand control of the newspaper publisher to its lenders...