Exclusive-Activist investor Blackwells plans Wendy’s board challenge -sources By Reuters
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<span>© Reuters. A Wendy’s Co restaurant is pictured in Monrovia, California November 4, 2015. Burger chain Wendy’s Co reported better-than-expected quarterly same-restaurant sales, pulling in customers in North America with an expanded menu and refurbished restaurants. </span><br />
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<p>By Svea Herbst-Bayliss</p>
<p>(Reuters) -Activist hedge fund Blackwells Capital is preparing to challenge Wendy’s (NASDAQ:) Co’s board of directors in a push for improvements to the fast food chain’s financial performance, people familiar with the matter said on Friday.</p>
<p>Blackwells, run by Jason Aintabi, plans to nominate several directors to Wendy’s 12-member board, said the sources, who asked not to be identified discussing confidential deliberations.</p>
<p>The challenge pits Blackwells against another activist hedge fund, Trian Fund Management, which owns a 16% stake in Wendy’s and has three representatives — Trian CEO Nelson Peltz, Trian President Peter May and Trian research co-head Matthew Peltz — serving on the Dublin, Ohio-based company’s board. </p>
<p>Blackwells antagonized Trian this week over Walt <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation"><span itemprop="name"> Disney </span></span> (NYSE:) Co. Blackwells issued a statement on Thursday criticizing Trian for its attempted board challenge against the entertainment giant and came out in support of Disney CEO Bob Iger.</p>
<p>In the same statement, Blackwells said of Wendy’s that Peltz had installed his son Matthew as non-executive vice chairman and “packed the board with business partners and friends, while presiding over a period of disappointing results for Wendy’s shareholders.” It made no mention of any plans to challenge the Wendy’s board.</p>
<p>Blackwells declined to comment further on Friday. Wendy’s and Trian did not respond to requests for comment.</p>
<p>The size of Blackwells’ stake in Wendy’s could not be learned. </p>
<p>Shares of Wendy’s rose 4.4% in afternoon trading in New York on Friday to $19.58, giving it a market value of about $4 billion.</p>
<p>Wendy’s had seen its stock price drop 15% this year prior to the news of Blackwells’ plans, amid investor concerns about decelerating growth in its same-restaurant sales. By comparison, competitor McDonald’s Corp (NYSE:)’s stock price has risen 7.33%, <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation"><span itemprop="name"> Shake Shack Inc </span></span> (NYSE:)’s is up 46% and Restaurant Brands International Inc (NYSE:), which owns Burger King and other fast food chains, has climbed 11% this year.</p>
<p>Blackwells made headlines last year when Aintabi pushed exercise bike maker Peloton Interactive (NASDAQ:) Inc to fire its CEO John Foley and to explore a sale. Peloton replaced Foley but has not sold itself.</p>
<p>Trian explored taking Wendy’s private last year but announced in January that it would no longer pursue this option. </p>
<p>Wendy’s reported adjusted third-quarter earnings per share of 27 cents last month, beating analysts’ average estimate of 25 cents. Yet it posted same-restaurant sales growth of 2.8% globally and 2.2% for the United States that were lower than a year ago. In third quarter of 2022, Wendy’s had reported global same-restaurant sales growth of 6.9% and U.S. same-restaurant sales growth of 6.4%.</p>
<p>Founded in 2005, Trian is one of the world’s biggest activist investors. Its previous investments include Procter & Gamble (NYSE:), <span itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Corporation"><span itemprop="name"> Unilever </span></span> (LON:) Plc and Janus Henderson Group (NYSE:) Plc.</p>
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