Arkhouse nominates nine candidates for election to Macy’s board

Arkhouse Management, which has a 4.4% economic exposure in Macy’s, announced it has nominated nine independent candidates for election to the company’s board of directors at the 2024 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. Gavriel Kahane and Jonathon Blackwell, Arkhouse Managing Partners, said: “Arkhouse and its partner, Brigade Capital Management, submitted a proposal on Dec. 1, 2023, to acquire all the outstanding shares of Macy’s we didn’t already own for $21.00 per share. After more than seven weeks of limited progress and the Board’s unwillingness to meaningfully engage, our proposal was rejected over alleged concerns about our financing sources and the purchase price. We have persisted in our attempts to resolve any supposed concerns privately with the Board since the company’s rejection of our proposal. To that end, we provided the Board with additional details regarding our financing, including names of our highly regarded equity partners – which have more than $75 billion in combined assets under management – for the 50% equity component of the transaction. We also reminded the Board that we remain optimistic that we will be able to increase the proposed purchase price based on customary due diligence, which the company has refused to grant us. Finally, we requested that the Board extend the February 19th deadline for director nominations so that we could continue to engage privately, which was also rejected, forcing us to nominate directors. The Board’s history of poor performance and continued refusal to engage constructively with our credible and motivated buyer group have led us to the decision to nominate a slate of highly qualified, independent directors to reconstitute Macy’s Board. While we do not make this decision lightly, we did so to preserve our ability to protect the rights of all shareholders. We firmly believe that our slate of nominees possesses the necessary backgrounds and expertise to evaluate all potential avenues to unlock the substantial unrealized value at the company that the current directors appear unwilling to pursue. We urge the Board to specifically identify any additional information they are seeking regarding our financing so that we may alleviate any of their outstanding concerns.”