Target asked its shareholders to vote against the board candidates nominated by activist shareholder William Ackman and to support management’s slate, reports the Associated Press.
Target said its board believes that the retailer’s shareholders should re-elect the four current directors whose terms expire at this year’s annual meeting.
In a proxy statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Ackman argued that his candidates will expand the board’s expertise in retail, credit cards, and real estate sectors.
Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management hedge fund holds a 7.8 percent stake in the Minneapolis-based company’s stock. Target reported a 41 percent drop in fourth-quarter profit in February, and has trailed behind rival Walmart.
Pershing Square has nominated Ackman, as well as Winthrop Realty Trust CEO Michael Ashner, former Starbucks CEO Jim Donald, law professor Ronald Gilson, and Richard Vague, the former chairman and CEO of First USA, to replace those directors whose terms expire
Target’s current board is comprised of Mary Dillon, global chief marketing officer of McDonald’s; Wells Fargo & Co. Chairman Richard Kovacevich; George Tamke, partner with Clayton, Dubilier & Rice; and Telstra CEO Solomon Trujillo.
Pershing’s fifth candidate is running for the seat left vacant by the departure of former Chairman and CEO Robert Ulrich, who resigned from the board on Jan. 31.