Carl Icahn Dives Into Activist Investment Illumina
Carl Icahn is an older, well known activist investor. His latest ambition is Illumina, Inc. Illumina is a DNA sequencing company based out of CA. The DNA sequencing industry is hot right now, but, interestingly enough, Illumina’s stock has fallen about 60% since 2021. Icahn thinks this is largely due to poor management. Wanting to change management, Icahn purchased a large sum of shares in 2023 resulting in ownership of about 1% of the company. [Note: after this article, as a result of the proxy contest, shareholders ousted the board chair.]
Here’s why Shake Shack’s recent deal with Engaged Capital may have fallen short for shareholders
Everyone knows the iconic fast-casual restaurant with some of the best burgers around: Shake Shack. Having gone public in 2015, Shake Shack now has about 436 restaurants worldwide. It was announced that they have entered a cooperation agreement with Engaged Capital to increase profitability and change up the staggered board. Engaged capital owns about 6.6% of Shake Shack. Engaged Capital has announced a new independent director, former CFO of Dominos, Jeffrey Lawrence. Other articles have noted that the stock has risen since.
MindMed Drama: Freemans Attempt Board of Directors Takeover
MindMed is a company that develops psychedelic-inspired medicines for mental illness. Recently, they have experienced an “industry-wide drop” in share prices. Because of this, activist investor FCM (Freeman Capital Management) is looking to take over the company’s board of directors. FCM owns about 5% of MindMed’s shares. They are proposing to 4 new candidates. Sources say that this ruckus hurt the stock even further.
Brenntag SE is a chemical distribution company based out of Germany. Engine Capital is a stakeholder of Brenntag SE. Brenntag and Engine capital are trying to agree on an issue with its board of directors. Engine capital released a statement recently stating that they support PrimeStone’s (another shareholder of Brenntag) proposal of adding two new directors to the board. Brenntag has remained “unwilling to engage”.
Theravance Biopharma, Inc is transforming the treatment of specialty respiratory and neurologic diseases. In February, one if its shareholders, Irenic Capital Management issued a notice to Theravance Biopharma calling for the need of governance overhaul, capital return, and strategic review. In April, Theravance appointed Jim Kelly to the board of directors. Recently, Irenic released a statement saying they are “pleased” with the addition of Kelly.
Enad Global 7 AB is a video game holding company based out of Stockholm. Alta Fox, a shareholder, owns 6% of EG7. In a letter, Alta suggested that EG7’s board address certain trading discounts and potentially consider selling the entire company. Following that letter, EG7 said it proposed “to refresh its board as part of its commitment to help improve the share price.” EG7 is hoping to see positive outcomes from this change.
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