People enter the Bed Bath & Beyond store in the Tribeca district of New York City.
Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images
Bed Bath & Beyond announced on Friday that it has signed a deal with activist investor Ryan Cohen to raise its share price.
Equities surged more than 12% in pre-market trading, but rose about 3% in the morning.
A household goods retailer said in a news release that three people selected by Cohen’s company RC Ventures will soon join Bed Bath’s board of directors as independent directors. Includes Margaret Bowen, Sherry Lombard and Ben Rosenzweig.
The company said a four-member committee would consider alternatives to the bye-by-baby chain and make recommendations to the board. Its committee includes Bowen and Rosenzweig.
Bed Bath is in the midst of a turnaround effort led by former Target Executive Mark Tritton, who commanded in 2019. This includes reviewing many aspects of the company, such as focusing on its own brand, remodeling stores, closing stores, and so on. Of unprofitable places. The retailer also sold other store banners, Christmas tree shops, and Cost Plus World Market to focus on the brand of the same name.
Bed bath sales and stock performance are lagging, despite pandemics fueling the hot real estate market and encouraging Americans to invest in their homes. Shares have declined by about 23% over the past year. They closed at $ 22.10 on Thursday, bringing the company’s market value to $ 2.13 billion.
Earlier this month, Cohen, chairman of GameStop, revealed a nearly 10% stake in Bed Bath and his intention to urge retailers to make drastic changes. In the letter, he criticized bed bath leaders for accumulating high salaries while struggling to improve retailers’ performance. He called for a renewal of the business, including spin-offs of baby store chains and details of the sale.
As part of a deal with RC Ventures, Tritton said on Friday that its leader “is looking forward to integrating the ideas of new directors and driving ongoing transformation.”
“As we move forward, our goals are to provide value to shareholders, provide experiences to our customers, carry out transformations throughout our business, and provide new and exciting opportunities for dedicated employees across all banners. We will continue to focus on creating. ” He said in a news release.
Cohen called the resolution “a positive outcome for all Bed Bath shareholders.”
“We look forward to the management and board accepting our ideas quickly and supporting them a year later,” he said in a news release.