Premier Foods in big boardroom shake-up
PREMIER Foods has beefed up its board with a new chairman and chief executive as it seeks a new recipe for success after a bitter battle with activist shareholders.
Colin Day, a former finance chief at consumer products giant Reckitt Benckiser, will chair the Mr Kipling, Oxo, Bisto and Ambrosia group, while UK managing director, Alex Whithouse has been made CEO.
Alistair Murray, Premier’s finance chief of six years who has been acting CEO for the past seven months, has stepped down from the board.
His departure follows last month’s retirement of chairman Keith Hamill after less than two years in the job and the January exit of CEO Gavin Darby months after he survived a bid by some investors to oust him.
One leading shareholder, Oasis Management, had argued the company had been “badly mismanaged and underinvested” and was in a “zombie state”.
Oasis and another rebel investor, Paulson & Co, each had representatives appointed to the board in February when Premier also announced a review of options.
Premier had debts of £470million at the end of March and a sizeable pension deficit, but speculation that Mr Kipling could be for sale has been played down.
Premier’s senior independent director, Richard Hodgson, said: “Colin will bring extensive experience at a pivotal time in the company’s history. We are also very pleased that Alex Whitehouse, who has led the successful turnaround of our UK business, has accepted the role of group CEO.”
Whitehouse said: “I look forward to working with Colin and the board to drive further value from our great portfolio of brands.”
Shares in Premier, which rejected a 65p-a-share offer from US spicemaker McCormick in 2016 valuing it at £537million, fell ¼p to 32¾p.