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TreeHouse said it shares a "common perspective" with Jana, which
has said the stock remains undervalued nearly three years into a
turnaround. The company said its current share price does not
reflect the progress it has made.
Jana, which owns 7.4% of TreeHouse's shares and has a history of
pushing for change in the food and beverage industry, in late
January nominated three directors to the TreeHouse board.
John Gainor, who was nominated by Jana, brings food industry
experience and was most recently the CEO of International Dairy
Queen. Kenneth Tuchman has decades of experience as an
investment banker having worked at Bank of Montreal Capital
Markets and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
"I look forward to working with John, Ken and the rest of the
board to focus on accelerating our momentum and achieving a
stock price that reflects the true value of our business,"
TreeHouse CEO Steve Oakland said in a statement.
TreeHouse, which makes private label food and beverages across
North America and Italy for retail grocery, food service and
industrial customers, is valued at $2.8 billion.
Its share price has climbed 18% since January and closed trading
at $49.34 on Tuesday, but is still well below prices over $100
in mid-2016.
Jana previously pushed for change at Pinnacle Foods which was
sold to Conagra and at Whole Foods which was sold to Amazon.
After settling, Barry Rosenstein, Jana's managing partner, said
in a statement; "We are encouraged by the steps the Company has
been taking, including these director additions, and by the
ongoing commitment to unlocking stockholder value."
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss, Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru;
Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Richard Pullin)
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