Yahoo Finance 'Confident' Premier Foods activist Oasis doubles down in bid to oust boss
An activist investor has doubled its stake in Premier Foods, upping the ante in its bid to oust under-fire boss Gavin Darby.
Oasis Management now owns 17.3pc of the Mr Kipling and Bisto owner, according to a regulatory filing this morning. The fund manager said it had “confidence” Mr Darby “will no longer be chief executive of Premier Foods” at the conclusion of the company’s annual general meeting next week.
Mr Darby angered shareholders after he rebuffed a takeover from US spice maker McCormick in 2016 before selling a large stake to Japan’s Nissin instead. Oasis has criticised Mr Darby for “years of persistent shareholder value destruction” and last month launched a public campaign for him to step down.
Over the weekend the Hong Kong-based asset manager was joined by Wall Street hedge fund Paulson. The Sunday Telegraph also reported a third top 10 shareholder was planning to vote against the chief executive’s re-appointment at the AGM on July 18.
A spokeswoman for Oasis said the move to increase its stake from 9.3pc “demonstrates our deep commitment and belief in the potential of Premier Foods”.
“Under a different chief executive, the company will be in a better position finally to capitalise on its many options for long-term shareholder value creation. We have confidence that at the conclusion of the July 18 AGM, Gavin Darby will no longer be chief executive of Premier Foods,” the Oasis spokeswoman said.
Mr Darby has the backing of Premier Foods’ largest shareholder, Nissin Foods, which owns almost 20pc of the London-listed company.
A spokesman for Premier Foods said it was equally “confident” Mr Darby would gain a majority in next Wednesday's vote. Influential shareholder proxy advisers Glass Lewis and ISS have backed Mr Darby’s re-election alongside the company’s pension scheme trustees.
However, despite advising shareholders to vote in favour of the incumbent chief executive, ISS warned that “the company's performance record under Darby's leadership is not particularly compelling” and a vote for the resolution “is not without concerns”.
The three investors calling for Mr Darby to step down now represent around a quarter of Premier Foods’ share capital.
Historically, voting turnout at the company’s AGM has been around 65pc, suggesting the trio may only require a further 8pc of shareholders to vote against Mr Darby for him to be forced out. However, sources close to the company argued that given Oasis’ recent clamouring for change, turnout was likely to be much higher at next week’s shareholder showdown.
