Starboard adds two more nominees to Newell board slate

(Reuters) - Hedge fund Starboard Value LP said on Monday it nominated two additional directors to the board of Newell Brands Inc (NYSE: NWL), taking its total nominees to 12 as the activist investor seeks to replace the board and the chief executive.

The nominations come two weeks after Newell named two new independent directors, expanding the board size to 11, in an attempt to rebuff Starboard's efforts.

Starboard, which owns about 4 percent of Newell, has said the company has underperformed peers and mismanaged the integration of Jarden Corp, which it bought in 2016.

"We are writing today as our serious concerns have become even more elevated, and even more apparent, following the recent and abrupt resignation of yet another Newell director," Starboard said in a letter to Newell's shareholders on Monday.

Last week, Newell said Ros L'Esperance, a former Jarden director, had resigned from the board after joining in 2016.

L'Esperance is the third Jarden executive to resign, following the exits of Jarden co-founders Martin Franklin and Ian Ashken, who are both now part of Starboard's slate of nominees.

Starboard's letter also comes a few days after Carl Icahn said he has taken a "large portion" in Newell that makes matches, markers and candles, saying the company's shares were undervalued.

(Reporting by Aishwarya Venugopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sriraj Kalluvila)

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