Consumer health company Kenvue said on Wednesday it had appointed three new directors to its board as part of an agreement with activist investor Starboard Value.
The appointments settle over four months of back-and-forth with the hedge fund since it built a stake in the Band-Aid maker in October, sparking criticism over the lacklustre performance in the skin health and beauty segment, which houses brands such as Neutrogena and Aveeno.
Kenvue said Starboard CEO Jeffrey Smith has joined the board along with two independent directors – Sarah Hofstetter, president of e-commerce company Profitero, and Erica Mann, former head of Bayer’s consumer health unit.
Kenvue’s shares fell nearly 2 percent to $23 in late-morning trade.
Starboard had nominated CEO Smith and three candidates to Kenvue’s board last month.
Hofstetter and Mann were not part of Starboard’s slate of nominees, which it will withdraw as part of the settlement, Kenvue said on Wednesday.
“We invested in Kenvue because of the tremendous potential we see in the company’s portfolio of iconic brands and market-leading positions in large and growing markets,” Smith said in a statement.
Starboard, along with its affiliates, owns about 22 million shares, roughly a 1.1 percent stake, in Kenvue.
Kenvue, spun off from Johnson & Johnson, lost about 13 percent of its value since its debut in 2023, giving it a market value of $44.76 billion.
By Mariam Sunny; Editing by Maju Samuel
Learn more:
Report: Activist Investor Starboard Targets Neutrogena Owner Kenvue
Per The Wall Street Journal, the hedge fund has taken a stake in the ailing consumer products firm, which has seen its stock price slide more than 18 percent since going public last year.
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