A Dungeons & Dragons classic dragon hand painted by Alan Cooley, 27, of Huntington Station, New York, at the Main Street Game Cafe on November 26, 2019 in Huntington.
Newsday LLC | Newsday | Getty Images
Hasbro Have defended a board challenge from an active investor who wanted to shake up his board and split the toy maker’s lucrative division that includes Dungeons & Dragons,
On Wednesday, the Rhode Island-based company said its shareholders voted to re-elect 13 of its directors by a “substantial margin,” according to preliminary votes.
“As the vote indicates, our highly skilled and recently refreshed board has the experience and expertise directly relevant to overseeing Hasbro’s world-class portfolio of assets across multiple play and entertainment categories,” the company said in a statement on Wednesday. Is.”
The proxy fight was sparked by Alta Fox Capital Management, which owns a 2.5% stake in the company for about $325 million, in February. Alta Fox initially nominated five directors to the company’s board, but narrowed the slate to one ahead of Wednesday’s vote.
Alta Fox wanted to move away from Hasbro’s current “brand blueprint” strategy and suggested shutting down the company’s Wizards of the Coast and digital gaming business as part of a broader push to increase profitability in the company’s consumer products and entertainment divisions. Gave.
Alta Fox told shareholders in February that the spinoff would increase Hasbro’s share price by $100. Hasbro has denied that claim, saying that separating Wizards of the Coast from its core business would be a loss for both the division and the company.
Hasbro’s strategy uses storytelling to drive sales of toys. Under the late CEO Brian Goldner, Hasbro successfully grew beyond just toys and games into the television, movies and digital gaming space.
It uses toy brands like Transformers and My Little Pony to promote movies and television shows, then uses that entertainment material to boost sales of the toys. The company is currently producing a Dungeons & Dragons movie and television show through eOne. It has also used these brands for publications, apparel and accessories.
Shares of Hasbro remained unchanged during afternoon trading.