The candidates are:
• Doug Benham – former president and CEO of Arby’s Restaurant Group
• Charles Elson – director of the John L. Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the Univ. of Delaware
• David Head – former president and CEO of O’Charley’s Inc.
• Steve Lynn – former chairman and CEO of Sonic Corp.
• Annelise Osborne – senior credit officer at Moody’s Investor Service
• Aron Schwartz – former managing director of Fenway Partners
• Michael Weinstein – former CEO of Triarc Beverage Group (Snapple Beverage Group)
• Lee Wielansky – chairman and CEO of Midland Development Group
Joe Crace, managing director of The Legacy Consulting Group, LLC, was named as an alternate board nominee.
Sandell has been agitating for change at Bob Evans, charging that management at the restaurant company is unable to realize the value of Bob Evans.
“Bob Evans has dramatically under-performed its own selected peer group over a 1-year, 3-year, 5-year, and 10-year time period, as well as other peers,” Sandell said in a statement. “We believe this unacceptable track record is the direct result of the failed policies and a wasteful culture sanctioned by a stale and entrenched Board of Directors that in our view has been unable to exert effective management oversight.
“To fix this woeful track record of underperformance, Bob Evans needs a fresh, independent, highly-qualified Board of Directors that is able to provide effective management oversight and bring new perspectives and ideas to the company as they seek to effect positive comprehensive change. We believe that an intrinsic value approaching $90 per share could be realized and over $6.00 in annual earnings per share [EPS] power could be generated through the implementation of the operational, financial, and strategic changes that we would recommend.”
Bob Evans acknowledged receiving the list of nominations, but reiterated that Sandell's recommendations were not in the best interests of the company or its shareholders.
“The board welcomes the views of its shareholders and fully considers suggestions such as those presented by Sandell,” the company said in a statement. “It will not, however, undertake financial engineering that would jeopardize the company's ability to build long-term value.”
