CHICAGO/BOSTON (Reuters) - Activist investor Daniel Loeb and Campbell Soup Co (CPB.N) hardened their positions in the battle over the soup maker’s future on Thursday as the hedge fund manager tried to woo retail shareholders and the company’s interim chief executive told Reuters that Loeb had left no room for compromise.
Campbell has been embroiled in a proxy fight since early September with Loeb’s Third Point LLC, which wants to replace the entire board of the 149-year-old company, accusing it of mismanagement and destroying shareholder value.
Keith McLoughlin, interim chief executive of the company, which has flatly rejected Third Point’s arguments, told Reuters on Thursday that Third Point seemed uninterested in compromise.
“Right now, I don’t know exactly what we would talk about with Third Point if their position is either sell the entire company or replace the entire board,” McLoughlin said in his first interview since Campbell announced a strategic review at the end of August.
“Those are two kind of dramatic actions; I’m not sure how to talk about that,” said McLoughlin, a board member who took over after longtime CEO Denise Morrison stepped down abruptly in May. Third Point did not immediately respond to a request for comment after McLoughlin’s interview.
McLoughlin said he had not spoken with the New York-based hedge fund since Loeb unveiled plans to unseat the company’s 12-person board in September.
“We’re interested in engaging with all shareholders,” McLoughlin said, adding that he had not heard from Loeb since Aug. 30. That is unusual, given that even in the bitterest proxy contests, there are often conversations between the activist and the target
