(Reuters) – A group of activist investors with a combined 9.5% stake in Kohl’s Corp on Thursday reduced the number of directors it plans to nominate to the department store’s board to five from nine.
The group had last month nominated a slate including former executives of Macy’s Inc and Burlington Stores to Kohl’s board, in what it called an effort to add more retail experience to the company’s leadership and improve profitability.
Kohl’s on Thursday said its current directors “outmatch” the group’s slate of nominees in experience and that the activists’ proposals threaten to disrupt the company’s business momentum.
The group, which includes Macellum Advisors GP LLC, Ancora Holdings Inc and Legion Partners Asset Management LLC, said it cut the number of nominees due to “the absence of meaningful progress towards a resolution” ahead of the start to its proxy campaign.
The five directors the group wants to replace from Kohl’s board include the chairman of its compensation committee and the chair of its audit committee.
Among the group’s nominees is Macellum Capital Management Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Duskin.
(Reporting by Uday Sampath in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty, Sriraj Kalluvila and Shinjini Ganguli)
