Exclusive-Ancora seeks four board seats at Elanco amid push for changes, sources say
By Svea Herbst-Bayliss
(Reuters) — Investment firm Ancora Holdings is pushing for four board seats at Elanco Animal Health (NYSE:ELAN) and wants to replace the chief executive at the company that makes medicines and vaccinations for pets and livestock, two people familiar with the matter told Reuters.
Ancora nominated the director candidates, including one of the firm's executives, to Elanco's 12-person board and wants to oust CEO Jeffrey Simmons over what the activist investor calls poor performance, the sources said.
Elanco, which was spun out of pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), is one of the world's leading developers and makers of animal health products and has a market value of $7.8 billion.
At the end of December Ancora owned 10.5 million shares, or 2.13% of the Greenfield, Indiana-headquartered company, making it one of Elanco's biggest investors, according to a regulatory filing.
Ancora, began engaging with the company last year, and has laid out its concerns about margins, drug commercialization, shareholder returns and governance policies, said the sources, who are not authorized to discuss the private meetings publicly.
The firm also blames Simmons for a 55% share price drop since Elanco completed its purchase of Bayer (OTC:BAYRY) Animal Health in 2020, the sources said. Elanco's website says Simmons «guided the acquisition.» The share price closed at $15.93 on Wednesday.
Ancora in January made a presentation to Elanco which included suggestions that Simmons would step down in 2025, the sources said.
A representative for Elanco was not immediately available to comment.
The firm nominated James Chadwick, president of Ancora Alternatives, Andrew Clarke, a former chief financial officer at freight
Read more on investing.com
