Stada Arzneimittel Feels More Heat From Active Ownership
July 25 2016 - 3:10PM
Dow Jones News
FRANKFURT—An activist shareholder on Monday stepped up its
pressure on German generic drugmaker Stada Arzneimittel AG, calling
on fellow investors to push out the chairman and three other
members of the nonexecutive supervisory board.
Active Ownership Capital said it wants to replace Stada Chairman
Martin Abend with Eric Cornut, formerly chief of ethics and
compliance at Swiss pharma giant Novartis AG. It suggested three
other board candidates whom shareholders can vote on at the annual
meeting on Aug. 26.
"The complete renewal of shareholder representatives on Stada's
supervisory board is an important step to develop the company in
the long term," Active Ownership Capital said.
The move marks the most prominent and intense proxy fight in the
recent history of corporate Germany, which for a long time hasn't
been targeted by U.S.-style activist investors that rattle
corporate cages.
Bankers and investors privately have said outright shareholder
criticism could become more common in Germany, where management
boards have long been insulated from stockholder agitation by
dual-board structures.
Active Ownership Capital co-founder Klaus Rö hrig told The Wall
Street Journal earlier this month he was optimistic that his push
would harness sufficient support from other Stada investors.
The fund on Monday said it holds more than 5% in Stada's
shares.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 25, 2016 15:55 ET (19:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Novartis (NYSE:NVS)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2024 to May 2024
Novartis (NYSE:NVS)
Historical Stock Chart
From May 2023 to May 2024