Lamb Weston bows to pressure from Jana Partners with board revamp
Lamb Weston has bowed to pressure from shareholders Jana Partners and Continental Grain Co. by restructuring the potato-products supplier’s board.
The publicly listed US group said it will expand its board to 13 members from 11 previously, with four new directors appointed by Lamb Weston and another two mutually agreed by the French fries maker, activist investor Jana Partners and Continental Grain.
Lamb Weston added the appointments will take place no later than 11 July.
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Jana Partners has been calling for a change in the company board’s since it took a minority stake in Lamb Weston last year and had criticised the business for what it called “self-inflicted mis-steps” in terms of its performance.
Those steps included profit warnings, inventory write-downs, plant closures and staff layoffs.
As Jana Partners pressed for a change of leadership and/or a sale of Lamb Weston in December a new CEO was appointed in the form of Michael Smith.
Both Jana Partners and Continental Grain expressed their satisfaction with the board changes in a joint statement with Lamb Weston yesterday (30 June).
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By GlobalDataScott Ostfeld, a managing partner and portfolio manager at the activist group, said: “I look forward to working with the board and management to improve performance and deliver shareholder value.”
Ari Gendason, the chief investment officer of Continental Grain, added: “While substantial opportunity remains, today’s announcement marks an important step in positioning Lamb Weston for long-term value creation.
“We are pleased to have reached this resolution and will continue to work constructively with Lamb Weston as it takes steps to enhance its near and long-term performance.”
The new board appointees picked by Lamb Weston are Bradley Alford, Timothy McLevish, Scott Ostfeld and Ruth Kimmelshue. The mutually agreed members are Lawrence Kurzius and Paul Maass.
Alford, a consumer goods veteran with experience at US food peer Conagra Brands and Swiss giant Nestlé, will take on the role of board chairman. Twelve of the new director picks will be independent.
Meanwhile, Charles Blixt, WG Jurgensen, Robert Niblock and Maria Renna Sharpe will step down from the board.
The new board composition is set to be formalised at the company’s 2025 annual general meeting, where the appointed directors will stand for election.
Commenting on the board reshuffle, CEO Smith said: “Following our constructive engagement with them [Jana Partners and Continental Grain] and taking into account perspectives gleaned from discussions with additional stockholders, we are confident this outcome is in the best interests of the company and all of our shareholders.”
In February, Lamb Weston received an unsolicited offer from TRC Capital Investment to buy up to two million shares of the company. It also emerged in December that another US food peer of the company, Post Holdings, was reportedly interested in acquiring Lamb Weston.
Post Holdings did not respond to Just Food’s request for comment on the speculation at the time.
Lamb Weston reported its latest results in April. Third-quarter net sales rose 4% to $1.52bn from a year earlier but net income was flat at $146m. Adjusted EBITDA climbed 6% to $363.8m.
The company left its fiscal 2025 outlook unchanged, targeting net sales of $6.35bn to $6.45bn. Adjusted EBITDA was forecast at $1.17bn to $1.21bn.
Adjusted net income was expected of $440m to $460m and adjusted diluted EPS at $3.05 to $3.20.
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