Starboard owns 6.5% stake in Rogers Corp -regulatory filing
06/02/2023 23:22
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Activist investment firm
Starboard Value LP has amassed a 6.5% stake in Rogers Corp
ROG.N and is seeking seats on the electronics materials
company's board in its push for changes, according to a
regulatory filing on Monday.
The firm, which is led by Jeffrey Smith, nominated three
independent director candidates plus three of the firm's
principals, including Smith, to Rogers' 10-person board, the
filing shows. The hedge fund plans to decide later which of the
Starboard executives will actually be listed on the ballot.
Reuters reported the stake and the nomination on Friday.
"We have engaged constructively with Starboard, as we
would with any shareholder, and look forward to continuing this
dialogue. The Nominating, Governance & Sustainability Committee
of the Board is reviewing Starboard's proposed nominees," a
representative for Rogers said in response to a request for
comment.
Starboard did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
The board challenge comes after chemical company DuPont
DD.N in November walked away from a $5.2 billion deal to
acquire Rogers because it failed to secure regulatory approval
for the transaction in China. The deal had originally been
announced in late 2021.
Rogers, which was founded in 1832, makes materials used in
electronics and wireless infrastructure.
Its stock price tumbled after the DuPont deal was scrapped
and is down 47% over the last 52 weeks. Since the start of 2023,
the stock has climbed 22% as the broader market moved higher,
giving Rogers a market value of $2.8 billion. It closed trading
on Monday up 1.5% at $149.26.
The company has made changes since the DuPont deal fell
apart. Colin Gouveia, who ran Rogers' elastomeric material
solutions unit, became CEO this year. Former chief executive
Bruce Hoechner, who retired at the end of last year, will step
down from the board at the end of March, according to the
company's website.
Starboard has been active, including recent bets on
cloud-based software company Salesforce Inc CRM.N , software
company Splunk SPLK.O and website maker Wix.com WIX.O .
(Reporting by Svea Herbst-Bayliss in Boston
Editing by Matthew Lewis)
((svea.herbst@thomsonreuters.com; +617 856 4331; Reuters
Messaging: svea.herbst.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))