Hedge fund Barington nominates three for OMNOVA board

[December 09, 2014]  By Svea Herbst-Bayliss

BOSTON (Reuters) - Activist hedge fund Barington Capital Group nominated three alternative directors on Tuesday to serve on the board of OMNOVA Solutions Inc less than one week after telling the specialty chemicals company to consider breaking itself apart.

The proposed slate includes Joseph Gingo, chief executive of plastic compounds and resins maker A. Schulman Inc., former McKinsey & Company partner Javier Perez, and Barington Chief Executive James Mitarotonda, the hedge fund said.

Barington controls 2 percent of Beachwood, Ohio-based OMNOVA and has separately made headlines by proposing that Darden Restaurants Inc, the parent of Olive Garden and Red Lobster, split itself apart.

Last week the New York-based hedge fund criticized OMNOVA's share price performance and its "lack of strategic focus" in a letter to Chief Executive Kevin McMullen. Since Barington made its proposal, OMNOVA's stock price has climbed 11 percent.

Barington urged the company to consider splitting its two main business segments, Performance Chemicals, which includes products used in coatings and adhesives, and Engineered Surfaces, which includes specialty fabrics.

Gingo became CEO at A. Schulman in 2008 after Barington demanded change at the Akron, Ohio-based company. Gingo plans to retire as A. Schulman CEO at the end of the year.

Perez is an adviser at Barington and has worked on helping restructure Gerber Scientific as well as developing business strategies for Hoechst Celanese.

New directors, the hedge fund wrote in its letter last week, could help OMNOVA improve shareholder value.

Barington is also pushing the company to split the chief executive and board chairman roles and criticized what it calls the "entrenchment of directors."

Barington's Mitarotonda is currently serving on three boards.

(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss)

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