By Rob Curran
Activist investment firm Starboard Value has launched a proxy battle with pharmacy supplier Kenvue, running a slate of four board nominees including Starboard head Jeff Smith.
Kenvue, a maker of over-the-counter medical products such as Band-Aids and Tylenol, was spun off by Johnson & Johnson in a 2023 initial public offering. Shares of Kenvue are up by 1.6% in the last 12 months. Rival Haleon, which sells Advil, are up 14% over the same period.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Starboard complimented the Kenvue franchise, but expressed disappointment with management and share-price performance.
"Despite the company's promising future prospects, Kenvue has suffered from persistent disappointing and deteriorating financial results, missed commitments, and ineffective board oversight, resulting in stock price underperformance and a significant valuation discount compared to peers," said Starboard, in its filing.
Starboard's nominees are Michelle Millstone-Shroff, Cara Robinson, Bindu Shah and Smith.
Millstone-Shroff was an executive at Bed Bath & Beyond, including a role as president and chief operating officer of its buybuy Baby unit.
Robinson was an executive at the beauty-products arm of consumer-products conglomerate Unilever.
Shah is an executive at fashion brand Tory Burch.
In October, Smith said that Kenvue should drill down on fixing its underperforming skin health and beauty segment that he believes is weighing on the company's overall performance. Smith also advocated improving the company's marketing strategy.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 05, 2025 08:24 ET (13:24 GMT)
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