Macy’s Appoints Two New Directors, Continues Talks With Arkhouse & Brigade

Updated at 2.25 pm 4/10/2024

Macy’s appointed today two new independent directors Richard (Ric) Clark and Richard (Rick) Markee. It is not clear who nominated the directors. In addition, Douglas (Doug) W
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. Sessler who was nominated to stand for election as an independent director joins the board immediately while Jeff Gennette and Frank Blake retire from the board at this time. Tony Spring, CEO of Macy’s inc. now also assumes the chairmanship of the company in addition to being CEO.

Arkhouse and Brigade have withdrawn their director nominations. However, Macy’s continues to engage with Arkhouse and Brigade regarding their proposal to acquire the company. As previously disclosed, the Board entered into a confidential agreement with Arkhouse and Brigade io facilitate their access to confidential due diligence information and that process remains ongoing. In the release the following sentence is important: “The Board is open-minded about the best path to create shareholder value and is committed to continuing to take actions that it believes are in the best interests of the Company and al Macy’s, Inc. shareholders”.

Richard Clark possesses four decades of real estate, mergers and acquisitions and capital markets. He was co-founder and managing partner pf WatermanClark, a vertically integrated investment operating company. Prior to his current role he spent three decades at Brookfield Corp. and its predecessors, serving in various leadership roles, including chairman and chief executive officer of Brookfield Property. Clark currently Chairman of the Alliance for Downtown New York and the Downtown Lower Manhattan Association. He hold a Bachelor of Science in Business rom Indiana University.

Richard (Rick) Markee has extensive retail experience both as CEO and director on various company boards. Markee served in various roles at Vitamin Shoppe
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Inc., including as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Earlier in his career he held senior positions at Toys “R” Us including vice chairman and president of Babies “R” Us. Markee is currently on the board of Five Below, and was on the board of The Sports Authority, Collective Brands, Dorel Industries and Pet Supplies Plus. Markee hold a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Wisconsin.

Tony Spring welcomed the new board members: We are pleased to welcome Ric and Rick to the Board as we advance our efforts to deliver value for shareholders. Ric and Rick bring leadership experience and retail industry expertise, respectively, that is complimentary to that of other board members…. At the same time, I want to extend the board’s appreciation for Jeff’s and Frank’s many valuable contributions throughout their years of service. We wish them the best”.

POSTSCRIPT: The resolution with the activists Arkhouse and Brigade is still being negotiated and will be an overhang for some time to come. The fate of Macy’s is watched by the whole retail industry. The company is strengthened by the new board members (Ric and Rick) as well as Douglas Sesler who will now take an active role in the discussions.