VF Corp.’s shares were up about 3 percent in late-afternoon trading on a Bloomberg report that activist investor Legion Partners Asset Management is targeting the company. Legion’s push would follow a move by activist investor Engaged Capital to acquire a stake in VF and call for cost cuts and board changes.
Sources told Bloomberg that Legion had taken an undisclosed stake in VF and wanted the company to divest brands, including Timberland.
As reported by SGB Media, shares of VF jumped 14 percent on October 17 after Engaged said that it had built a stake in the owner of Vans and The North Face and planned to push for changes, including a board overhaul at VF Corp.
Among the proposed changes, Engaged called for cost cuts of up to $300 million through the “elimination of duplicative costs and corporate excess” and hiring advisors to explore non-core divestitures. It also wants VF to commit to holding off on acquisitions. Engaged further urged VF to restore brand autonomy and reinvest a portion of savings to accelerate innovation and support growth.
Engaged’s stake in VF Corp. has not been disclosed.
On Monday, VF reported that it had appointed former Nike executive Trevor Edwards to its Board of Directors, effective October 22. Read SGB Media‘s coverage here.
Edwards was the president of Nike, Inc. from 2013 until 2018. Edwards resigned in March 2018 following an internal probe of inappropriate workplace behavior.
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