Carl Icahn talking at Handing over Alpha in New York on Sept. 13, 2016.
David A. Grogan | CNBC
Activist investor Carl Icahn misplaced his proxy battle with McDonald’s on Thursday, signaling that shareholders were not swayed through his animal-welfare considerations.
Initial counts of votes all through the corporate’s annual shareholder assembly confirmed that Icahn’s board nominees handiest won votes from about 1% of remarkable stocks, McDonald’s mentioned.
“Shifting ahead, McDonald’s Board and Management Workforce stay thinking about proceeding to take movements that uphold and advance our values whilst committing to serve the pursuits of all our shareholders,” the corporate mentioned in a commentary.
Icahn handiest owns about 200 McDonald’s stocks, a tiny stake that did not give him a lot affect over votes. And, as the consequences display, he did not win over his fellow shareholders along with his grievance of McDonald’s environmental, social and company governance commitments and calling out massive Wall Side road companies for “hypocrisy.”
McDonald’s chairman Enrique Hernandez, Jr., mentioned in ready remarks acquired through CNBC that Icahn was once invited to discuss his nominations on the assembly however he withdrew two days in the past. Icahn didn’t attend the assembly.
A consultant for Icahn declined to remark to CNBC.
The proxy battle kicked off in February as Icahn publicly criticized the fast-food massive for failing to satisfy its unique closing date for getting rid of its providers’ use of gestation crates for pregnant pigs. He additionally claimed the corporate was once meant to prohibit the usage of crates completely however has since modified the scope of its dedication.
For its phase, the Chicago-based corporate has blamed the Covid-19 pandemic and African swine fever outbreaks for pushing again the unique closing date of 2022 that it set a decade in the past. By means of the tip of this yr, McDonald’s now expects 85% to 90% of its U.S. red meat provide to return from pigs that don’t seem to be stored in gestation crates if they are showed to be pregnant. McDonald’s has mentioned that getting rid of the usage of the crates completely would lift its prices and better costs for purchasers.
McDonald’s mentioned in a submitting in early April that it anticipated to spend kind of $16 million within the proxy battle with Icahn.
Icahn is waging a an identical proxy battle at Kroger, the most important U.S. grocery store chain operator within the U.S. Kroger’s annual assembly is scheduled for June 23.