VF Corp. appears to be working to make activist investor Engaged Capital happy, with two new directors to be added to its board.
VF said late Tuesday it’s adding Caroline Brown to the board after “constructive engagement” with shareholders such as Engaged Capital.
The Newport Beach firm emerged in October with a highly critical presentation of how the business had been managed under former VF Chair, President, and CEO Steve Rendle. The presentation also pushed for the sale of “non-core” assets, such as Dickies, Timberland, and Supreme so that more focus could be placed on boosting share price through the larger Vans and The North Face businesses.
A second board seat is also expected to be filled soon with VF saying prospective directors selected by Engaged would be prioritized.
“We appreciate the constructive input provided by Engaged Capital over the past several months and look forward to continuing our dialogue with Engaged Capital and other shareholders as we continue improving the company’s performance,” VF Chair Richard Carucci said in a statement.
The board changes come after Reuters reported Monday that Kelly Barbey, great grandson of VF founder John Barbey, supports Engaged and its push to ramp the business’s turnaround.
New VF Corp. board member Caroline Brown’s appointment is effective Feb. 14. Photo courtesy of VF Corp.
Luxury Experience Added to Board
Brown, who officially joins the board Wednesday, was most recently a managing director at New York investment firm Closed Loop Partners. She led the firm’s fashion practice with a focus on circularity.
Brown is also a former CEO of Donna Karan International, where she led the business between 2015 and 2017. She was also a president at Carolina Herrera and U.S. CEO of Akris Inc.
“Having worked on the leadership and investment sides of the apparel and fashion industry, I recognize the tremendous potential of VF’s portfolio of beloved brands,” Brown said in a statement. “I believe VF has what it needs to return to strong and sustainable profitable growth, and I look forward to capitalizing on my experience to help the company deliver enhanced value for shareholders over time.”
VF Business Pressures
The board news comes after last week’s disappointing results for VF’s fiscal third quarter ended Dec. 30 in which all four of its largest brands saw sales contract. The financial update also came with news of an internal strategic review of all of VF brands as part of the turnaround plan called Reinvent, which was introduced in October.
Vans in the December quarter generated sales of $668.2 million, dropping 29% in constant currency with all three regions down.
While VF CEO Bracken Darrell, who is overseeing the Vans business until a new global brand president is hired, told analysts last week there is a plan to get the footwear company back to growth, but could not offer a timeline for when that will occur.
Elsewhere in the VF portfolio, The North Face sales were down 11% to $1.2 billion in the quarter, Timberland sales decreased 22% to $473 million, and Dickies fell 17% to $479.1 million.
Executive Vice President and CFO Matt Puckett will step down from VF later this year in a move also related to the turnaround effort.
