(Reuters) – Hedge fund Starboard Value has nominated four directors, including its chief investment officer, to the board of consumer products company Kenvue, a regulatory filing showed on Wednesday.
Starboard said it first reached out to Kenvue in December with its nominations, and has connected several times with the company’s board chair Larry Merlo since then to discuss the nominations.
«We believe stockholders deserve a Board that demands accountability and is committed to taking proactive measures with the best interests of stockholders in mind at all times,» the hedge fund said in the filing.
Kenvue did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment.
Starboard, along with its affiliates, owns about 22 million shares of the company, according to the filing.
The activist investor has previously said that Kenvue’s skin health and beauty segment’s lackluster growth is the reason for the stock’s underperformance.
Shares of the company have fallen 21% since their debut on the New York Stock Exchange in May 2023.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli)
