© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Kohl’s label is seen on a shopping cart in the Kohl’s department store in the Brooklyn borough of New York, U.S., January 25, 2022. REUTERS / Brendan McDermid
BOSTON (Reuters) – Authorization consulting firm Glass Lewis on Tuesday recommended that Kohl’s Corp (NYSE:) investors elect all 13 board candidates presented by management, giving a blows to the activist investment firm Macellum Advisors trying to take control of the board.
Glass Lewis said the company had taken meaningful steps to boost sales and profits, and that its stock performance was reasonably in line with peers, and concluded. that it doesn’t make sense for investors to support the dissidents’ options. Macellum nominated 10 director candidates.
“We do not believe the list of dissident candidates would represent a marked advancement” for the company’s directors, the report said.
Glass Lewis said the board, which was refreshed about a year ago, has “the right mix of qualified directors who have additional experience, qualifications and knowledge of the industries and various related fields,” the report said.
In 2021, Macellum and several partners reached an agreement to waive a proxy fight in exchange for two of their nominated seats on the board. The company also added a third independent director to the board of directors.
The report comes days after Institutional Shareholder Services, Glass Lewis’s larger rival, recommended investors elect two of Macellum’s directors to Kohl’s board, argues that fresh blood is needed to help rationally weigh strategic options.
Macellum and other investors are pushing Kohl’s to sell, and the company said it has engaged with more than 25 potential bidders.
Macellum did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Three weeks ago, Reuters reported that Franchise Group (NASDAQ:) Inc entered the tender for Kohl’s.
Investors will decide who sits on Kohl’s board on May 11.
Kohl’s operates more than 1,100 stores in the United States and is valued at $7.6 billion.
