Wired News – Proxy War Intensifies as Starboard’s Fresh Salvo to Newell Brands’ Shareholders Raises Concern Over Operating Performance and Two Additional Nominations

LONDON, UK / ACCESSWIRE / March 07, 2018 / Active-Investors.com has just released a free research report on Newell Brands Inc. (NYSE: NWL) ("Newell"). If you want access to this report all you need to do is sign up now by clicking the following link www.active-investors.com/registration-sg/?symbol=NWL as the Company's latest news hit the wire. On March 05, 2017, Activist investor Starboard Value L.P. ("Starboard") including its affiliates, who own approximately 4% interest in Newell Brands, sent a fresh communication to the shareholders of Newell. In this communication Starboard has raised questions on the Company's operating performance under the current management team and announced nominations of two additional members for the Company's Board positions. Register today and get access to over 1,000 Free Research Reports by joining our site below:

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Active-Investors.com is focused on giving you timely information and the inside line on companies that matter to you. This morning, Newell Brands most recent news is on our radar and our team decided to put out a fantastic report on the company that is now available for free below:

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Incidentally, Starboard's communication to Newell's shareholders comes in after activist investor Carl Icahn revealed on March 01, 2018, that he had a stake in Newell but had not decided which side he would support in the current proxy war between Starboard and Newell's current management.

Starboard's Areas of concerns

Some of the key issues raised by Starboard include the following:

Concerns due to unusual exodus of four Directors from Newell's Board within last two months. Three resignations in January 2018 followed by the resignation of Ros L'Esperance on March 01, 2018. Starboard believes that the resignations point towards severe governance deficiencies in the Company.

The other major concern is the Company's operating performance and the undervaluation of the Company's shares. Starboard feels that the Company has underperformed when compared to its peers and has not been able to leverage the acquisition of Jarden Corp. in 2016. Newell's shares have fallen nearly 39% since the close of the acquisition of Jarden in April 2016. Many of Newell's business which include Elmer's Glue, Sharpie pens, Crock Pot cookers, etc., have been hit by the current retail environment. Starboard blames this on the poor execution and questionable decision-making by Newell's top management in handling the situation.

Michael B. Polk, CEO of Newell, had shared the progress made by the Company in February 22, 2018, under the new Transformation Plan at the Consumer Analyst Group of New York conference. The Transformation Plan included divestment of non-core businesses and focusing on core nine divisions which together contribute approximately $11 billion in net sales and $2 billion of earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA). The Company had planned to simplify its operations for increased operational efficiency which included a 50% reduction in the Company's global factory and warehouse footprint, 50% reduction in its customer base, and the consolidation of 80% of global sales on two enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms by the end of 2019. Improving the Company's financial flexibility via planned strategic divestments of approximately $6 billion after taxes and increase cash flows via cost-cutting of approximately $275 million and synergies of nearly $730 million in FY18

However, Starboard's take is that despite the challenging retail environment, Newell has the potential to pull a multi-year operational turnaround that can deliver outstanding returns to its shareholders. It believes that Starboard can help Newell achieve this.

New Nominees from Starboard

Starboard has nominated two additional nominees for the election to the Company's Board. The two nominees are Bridget Ryan Berman and Robert A. Steele.

Bridget is the former CEO of Victoria's Secret Direct and prior to that has been the CEO of Giorgio Armani Corporation, a US subsidiary of Giorgio Armani S.p.A. She brings with her over 35 years of experience in retail with companies like Ralph Lauren Corp., Apple Inc.'s Global Retail business, etc. Her leadership skills have helped the success of some of the leading fashion and luxury goods groups in the world.

Robert brings with him over 35 years of experience with Procter & Gamble and has extensive knowledge of the consumer-packaged goods segment. He has held various leadership positions of increasing importance in Procter & Gamble and the last position held by him was as the Vice Chairman of Global Health and Well-Being.

Starboard's decision comes after Newell announced on February 22, 2018, that it is expanding its Board members with two additional independent directors and one additional director during its Annual Meeting of Stockholders (AMS) 2018. Starboard is miffed with Newell as it had announced the reduction of its number of Board's members to nine members in January 2018 following the resignation of three Board's members - Martin Franklin, Ian Ashken, and Domenico De Sole. However, Newell announced the expansion of the Board two weeks after the nomination deadline had crossed. Starboard had already issued a notice in early February 2018 to Newell that it plans to nominate 10 candidates for election to replace all Board's members including the CEO during its 2018 AMS.

About Newell Brands Inc.

Hoboken, New Jersey-based Newell is a leading global consumer goods company. Some of the leading brands of the Company's products include Paper Mate®, Sharpie®, Dymo®, EXPO®, Parker®, Elmer's®, Coleman®, Jostens®, Marmot®, Rawlings®, Oster®, Sunbeam®, FoodSaver®, Mr. Coffee®, Rubbermaid Commercial Products®, Graco®, Baby Jogger®, NUK®, Calphalon®, Rubbermaid®, Contigo®, First Alert®, and Waddington and Yankee Candle®.

About Starboard Value L.P.

Starboard is a New York-based investment adviser that invests in deeply undervalued companies and actively engages with management teams and boards of directors to identify and execute on opportunities to unlock value for the benefit of all shareholders.

Stock Performance Snapshot

March 06, 2018 - At Tuesday's closing bell, Newell Brands' stock slightly declined 0.71%, ending the trading session at $27.89.

Volume traded for the day: 8.15 million shares.

After yesterday's close, Newell Brands' market cap was at $13.62 billion.

Price to Earnings (P/E) ratio was at 12.89.

The stock has a dividend yield of 3.30%.

The stock is part of the Consumer Goods sector, categorized under the Housewares & Accessories industry. This sector was up 0.3% at the end of the session.

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