US Foods activist holder Sachem Head cuts number of directors in board fight
Apr. 11, 2022 9:50 PM ET
US Foods Holding Corp. (USFD)SYY
Activist investor Sachem Head said its reducing the number of directors it's nominating the US Foods (NYSE:
USFD) board as it tempers its plans to take control of the food distributor.
Sachem Head cutthe director nominees to five from seven after US Foods late last month named two new independent directors to the board and announced that former US Foods CEO John Lederer would not stand for reelection, according to a
statement.
The news comes after a disclosure Monday that US Foods board offered a
possible settlementwith Sachem Head that would have the activist add two of its director nominees to the board and the food distributor would form of a five-member committee charged with the "evaluation of avenues to create shareholder value."
"We remain open to reaching a constructive resolution with US Foods that ensures the appropriate level of change takes place," Sachem Head said in the statement. "Should that not occur, we look forward to engaging with our fellow stockholders and taking the steps we believe are necessary to achieve the best long-term outcome for all of the company’s stakeholders."
Sachem Head described the US Foods settlement offered on Saturday as "substantially similar" to US Foods initial offer to settle on Dec. 21, where Sachem Head was offered two seats on the board, according to fund's
latest proxy filing.
Sachem Head, which has an 8.7% stake in US Foods, has argued that if it USFD can get its valuation levels closer to peers such as Sysco Corp. (
SYY), its shares could see 100% upside.