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The
Rice brothers, who own about 3% of EQT, have been pushing to
overhaul EQT's board, saying that the management was responsible
for the company's stock underperformance. The brothers were part
of the founding team at Rice Energy, which EQT bought in
November 2017.
EQT's shares have fallen nearly 60 percent since it closed the
acquisition of Rice Energy.
Egan-Jones' recommendation follows support for the Rice slate of
nominees from proxy adviser Institutional Shareholders Services
Inc as well as from top shareholders T. Rowe Price, D.E. Shaw
and Kensico Capital Management.
However, proxy adviser Glass Lewis & Co last week recommended
EQT investors vote in favor of the company's board nominees.
"In our view, the incumbent Board and management fall short of
the operational skillset to deliver long-term shareholder
value," Egan-Jones was quoted as saying in a statement from the
Rice team on Friday.
EQT has repeatedly urged shareholders to vote for its own slate
of directors, adding that the management had improved the
company's financial and operating results while reducing costs
in the last six months.
EQT did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside
working hours on Friday.
(Reporting by Arathy S Nair in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju
Samuel)
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