Campbell Soup heirs who together hold roughly 41 percent of the company’s shares came out in support of the soup giant on Wednesday in its battle with activist investor, Dan Loeb.
Dan Loeb’s activist fund, Third Point, has a 6.98 percent stake in Campbell and wants to replace all 12 of its directors at its Nov. 29 shareholder meeting.
Loeb earlier this year called for the company to consider selling itself. It has partnered with George Strawbridge Jr., a descendant of the founder who earlier this year disclosed a 2.7 percent stake.
Campbell requires two-thirds shareholder vote approval for a deal.
The descendants who came out in support of the company’s current board include Charlotte C. Weber and current board members Bennett Dorrance, Mary Alice Dorrance Malone, and Archbold van Beuren.
Dorrance and Malone, children of Campbell’s former chairman, together own 33 percent of the soup company. Van Beuren is a family trustee in the Campbell Voting Trust, through which other descendants hold a combined 7.9 percent stake in the soup giant.
Campbell shares fell more than 1 percent in premarket trading Wednesday.
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