By Ben Glickman

Cannae, a holding company led by billionaire investor and sports owner Bill Foley, is facing pressure from Carronade Capital Management to shake up its board and sell its investments in public stocks to focus on its private holdings such as European soccer teams, according to people familiar with the matter.

The details

Cannae was spun out in 2017 from title insurance provider Fidelity National Financial, which Foley founded in 1984 and has chaired since.

Carronade owns about 4.6% of Cannae, the people said, making it one of the top shareholders. The firm confidentially nominated a slate of four directors in December and believes the company's board isn't sufficiently independent, the people said.

Shares of Cannae are down about 24% in the past year, giving the company a market value of about $1 billion.

The context

Foley owns the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League, as well as hotels, restaurants and a collection of vineyards and wineries.

Cannae's holdings are similarly diverse. It holds stock positions in several companies and a variety of private investments. It owns slightly less than half of Black Knight Football Club, which owns English Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and stakes in several other soccer teams, and has invested in activist firm Jana Partners.

Carronade believes the private investments are currently undervalued by investors, contributing to the entire company trading at a steeper discount on its assets than its peers, the people said.

Carronade was founded by Elliott Management and Fortress Investment Group alum Dan Gropper. The multistrategy investment firm has historically focused more on investing in distressed debt, but in the past year has dipped its toe into activism, including agitating against Verizon Communications's nearly $10 billion acquisition of Frontier Communications.

The activist ask

Carronade believes Cannae should sell its public company holdings and return most of that capital to shareholders, the people said. Cannae has investments in data-and-analytics company Dun & Bradstreet, employee-benefits manager Alight, financial-services company Paysafe and marketing-and-advertising company System1.

Carronade views the current board as too connected to Foley's other ventures, according to the people. The firm also is pushing for a new board committee focused on improving returns for shareholders.

Several board members are current or former executives or directors at Foley's separate entertainment holding company or Fidelity National Financial.

Cannae said in a statement Thursday that it was committed to returning a large amount of capital to shareholders and continuing to reduce its public company holdings. The company said it had in recent weeks discussed its strategy with Carronade in order to reach a resolution.

Write to Ben Glickman at ben.glickman@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 20, 2025 19:47 ET (23:47 GMT)

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