Activist hedge fund Blackwells Capital will nominate three directors to The Walt Disney Company’s (NYSE:DIS) board in support of Bob Iger as Trian Fund, a critic of the CEO, seeks two board seats, Reuters reported citing people familiar with the matter.
Iger returned as CEO in 2022 amid losses and underperformance of its movies. Trian has been highly critical of Iger and the company’s trajectory.
The news comes just hours after Disney and ValueAct entered into an information sharing agreement that will see ValueAct support Disney’s recommended slate of nominees for election to its board of directors at the 2024 annual meeting.
Disney shares rose fractionally in premarket trading on Wednesday.
Blackwells will nominate Jessica Schell, a former Warner Brothers executive with expertise in content distribution; Tribeca Film Festival co-founder Craig Hatkoff; and Leah Solivan, who founded and headed TaskRabbit, the sources said.
Blackwells is also proposing to allow incumbent board directors who lose their seats to Blackwells nominees to be reinstated through a board expansion.
Last year, Trian put forward its CEO Nelson Peltz and former Disney Chief Financial Officer James Rasulo as nominees.
Iger has been cutting costs, aiming to save $7.5B as the stock is down 55% since March 2021 when it hit a record closing price.