Corteva Appoints Starboard Directors to Board
Agricultural giant Corteva, spun out of DowDuPont in June 2019, has reached agreement with Starboard Value and appointed four of the activist investor’s proposed directors to its board with immediate effect.
The term of the independent directors – David Everitt, Janet Giesselman, Kerry Preete and Karen Grimes – will expire at Corteva’s annual meeting on May 7, but Corteva will nominate them for election.
Adding the four directors will temporarily increase the size of Corteva’s board from 12 to 16. However, three existing board members will not stand for re-election at the May meeting, reducing the board to 13 directors, 12 of whom will be independent.
Starboard has had an ongoing dialog with Corteva about the company’s lackluster performance since autumn 2020. In January, the New York-based investor wrote to Corteva’s chairman Gregory Page setting out its proposal to nominate eight directors to the board and oust CEO Jim Collins, but Starboard said it will now withdraw its previous nominations and support the board’s full slate of directors.
“After constructive discussions with Corteva’s Board, we are pleased that these new directors will contribute their deep industry expertise and track records of value creation to help Corteva capitalize fully on its many opportunities,” said Starboard CEO Jeff Smith.
Collins commented: “We are very pleased to have reached a resolution that will further enhance our board’s existing depth of agriculture and innovation expertise as we move ahead and build long-term value as a global agriculture leader.”
Author: Elaine Burridge, Freelance Journalist
