The Harley-Davidson world has been within the highlight in latest weeks, and never as a result of it launched a wild 150 horsepower bagger. Reasonably, it has been within the highlight because of its CEO Jochen Zeitz asserting his retirement, and the facility play that his retirement kicked off with a former member of Harley-Davidson’s board.
Two weeks in the past, Jared Dourdeville of H Companions Administration, an funding agency with a few 9% stake within the firm, left in protest after the remainder of the board instructed the younger govt that he might decide the corporate’s subsequent CEO. He wasn’t too completely happy about that and, with the backing of his investement firm, launched a marketing campaign not solely to see Zeitz depart instantly, but in addition oust two long-standing board members, and decide his favourite candidate for CEO.
Harley, for its half, launched a really catty SEC submitting just about poking holes in each single one among Dourdeville and H Companions Administration’s claims about company malfeasance, and the way he and so they voted with the remainder of the board each single time. That struggle continues to be enjoying out, as H Companions Administration has launched a proxy struggle to, hopefully, persuade the model’s different buyers, homeowners, and board members to sway their means.
Despite all that, nevertheless, Harley-Davidson just lately nominated somebody to interchange Dourdeville on the board, and the quickness of the nomination seems like such a knife twist.
In a latest Securities and Alternate Fee (SEC) submitting, which is quick turning into the tactic of sizzling gos inside Harley-Davidson, the board took little time to appoint Dourdeville’s alternative. That being Lori Flees, who’s at present oil-giant Valvoline’s President and CEO.
In response to the SEC submitting, “Following Mr. Dourdeville’s resignation, the Board acted to cut back the scale of the Board from 9 to eight members. As beforehand disclosed within the Proxy Assertion, the Board nominated Ms. Lori Flees, who has not beforehand served on the Board, for election as a Director as a part of the Board’s dedication to refreshment that ensures a stability between leveraging institutional data and bringing recent views to Board discussions. Ms. Flees was really helpful by a third-party govt search, company tradition, and management guide retained by the Board’s Nominating and Company Governance Committee to establish new director candidates. The Board has acted to reinstate its dimension to 9 administrators efficient on the Annual Assembly.”
Flees has been at Valvoline for the final three years, and at Walmart for the eight years prior.
Harley, for its half, additionally used the nomination submitting to induce Harley’s shareholders to vote in favor of the board’s administrators and nominees, saying, “Though Mr. Dourdeville is now not a director nominee, the WHITE proxy card that we made accessible with the Proxy Assertion stays legitimate, and WE STRONGLY URGE YOU TO VOTE ‘FOR ALL’ THE COMPANY’S DIRECTOR NOMINEES.” Emphasis Harley’s. Dourdeville and H Companions Administration distributed Blue Proxy playing cards that may primarily maintain the corporate hostage till their calls for for Zeitz’s instant departure, in addition to the departures of board members Thomas Linebarger and Sara Levinson.
We’ll should see how this all performs out, so keep tuned to RideApart as we proceed to cowl this creating story.
