Yahoo Finance Activist investor Kelso gains board seats at The Works as it tries to enhance shareholder value
Activist investor Kelso has gained two board seats at The Works at it looks to up the value of the discount retailer, pushing the firm’s stock up 6.7 per cent this morning.
Kelso chief John Goold and chief financial officer Mark Kirkland have gained non-executive director positions, and will focus on “all matters relating to shareholder value,” the firm said in a stock exchange notice today.
“The Works has consulted with certain of its major shareholders, who are supportive of these appointments,” it added.
The arts and craft store has been a target of Kelso since September 2023 when it first acquired a holding in the firm and announced on 30 October that it now owned 5.1 per cent of the company.
Following the news, shares in The Works jumped by over a third, but these have since fallen back to their lowest point since the pandemic. after an unimpressive set of half-year results.
Carolyn Bradley, chair of The Works, said the pair brought “extensive corporate and operational experience” to the board and she expected them to be an “asset” as they work to push share prices up.
Goold and Kirkland both said that they had “long believed that The Works has a strong customer proposition, a broad range of products with plenty of appeal and an important focus on affordability.”
The pair both sit on other boards the firm is targeting, with Goold sitting as a non-executive at Boohoo and Oncimmune, while Kirkland sits on the boards of AEW UK REIT and Strix Group.
“By joining the board we can bring our experience, particularly working with listed small-cap businesses, to drive shareholder value,” they added.
“We are supportive of both management and the strategic direction of the business and look forward to helping to restore the intrinsic valuation of The Works, which we believe is much higher than the current share price reflects.”
