Freshpet, a leading pet-food company, has reached an agreement with activist investor Jana Partners to welcome two new directors to its board. Timothy McLevish and Joseph E. Scalzo have officially joined Freshpet's board, as announced on Monday.
Jana Partners, one of Freshpet's largest shareholders, has agreed to withdraw its own director nominations and has committed to supporting the board's slate of directors at the next shareholder meeting.
Last September, it was reported by The Wall Street Journal that Jana had acquired a significant stake in Freshpet and intended to advocate for changes and a potential sale. By May, Jana had accumulated a 9.3% stake and initiated efforts to nominate four directors, citing the board's alleged negligence towards shareholders amidst mounting losses.
Among Jana's nominees were Timothy McLevish, a former finance chief of Kraft Foods and several other prominent companies, Scott Ostfeld, Jana's managing partner, Diane Dietz, former chief of Rodan & Fields, and Kurt Schmidt, former chief of Blue Buffalo.
Under the terms of the resolution unveiled on Monday, McLevish and Scalzo have assumed their positions on the board. Scalzo is a former CEO of Simply Good Foods and WhiteWave Foods, while also holding key leadership roles at Dean Foods and Coca-Cola.
Shares of Freshpet saw a modest increase of 1.5%, reaching $80.48 in premarket trading.
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