Activist Fund Alta Fox Campaigns to Oust Hasbro Chairman

Alta Fox, an activist fund in a proxy fight with Hasbro, will be working alongside other investors to vote against reelecting the company’s chairman and two other board members at its meeting coming up June 8.

The company said this comes with an ongoing battle between Hasbro, which is the biggest U.S. toymakers, and Alta, which is the biggest shareholder with a 2.5% stake.

The Bloomberg report Tuesday (April 26) said it’s not clear how much support Alta Fox has among other shareholders. That said, if there are any of the suggestions implemented, the company could be severely changed.

The report said the company has said in a proxy statement that shareholders should reject the proposals from Alta, in addition talking about various issues with the board and management. According to Connor Haley, the fund’s managing partner, the board was “arrogant, insular and ineffective,” not taking his proposals seriously.

Alta Fox has said Hasbro is undervalued because of the influence from the Hassenfeld family, which founded the company. The company has reportedly rejected two takeover offers in 1996 and 2010 which would’ve benefited shareholders.

The report notes that Hasbro has focused on acquisitions it is making on its own, with Haley saying a $4 billion buy of Entertainment One, a media company, in 2019, didn’t make sense.

Haley has also said the directors and managers have paid themselves too much, and he said the shares were lower than they were five years ago, falling by around 12% to $89.54 by Monday’s close.

See also: New Hasbro CEO Says Company to Focus on ‘Fewer Big Opportunities’

PYMNTS wrote about Hasbro’s popularity in tabletop games, along with its growth in the digital gaming franchise and TV and film partnerships. That has been a turnaround for the toymaker.

The company, based in Rhode Island, announced that it had been working on things since new CEO Chris Cocks took over in late February.