NY Times Co. Agrees to Add Director Seats

New York Times Co. has agreed to add two seats to its board of directors and those seats will be filled by outside directors nominated by dissident investors. The move is being made to avert a proxy battle with hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners and investment firm Firebrand Partners.
The total number of board seats will go from 13 to 15.
Harbinger and Firebrand are the largest public investors in the New York Times Co. and have amassed a 19 percent stake, up from about 5 percent two months ago. They have been pressuring the company to sell assets and expand its online operations.
One of the nominees for the outside seats will be Scott Galloway, a New York University marketing professor and shareholder activist who has been advising Harbinger. The other is James Kohlberg, co-founder of the investment firm Kohlberg & Co. The winning directors will be announced at the company’s annual shareholder meeting next month.
In return for the Times support of the directors, Harbinger and Firebrand will stop pushing a four-person nominee slate it had proposed.