Campbell Soup to expand board in settlement with Dan Loeb

It took nearly four months, but activist investor Dan Loeb and Campbell Soup finally made nice.

The Camden, NJ-based soupmaker will expand its board to 14 from 12 to allow two of Loeb’s nominees to join, according to a joint statement by Campbell and Loeb’s Third Point on Monday.

In addition to getting the board seats, Third Point will have a say in Campbell’s ongoing CEO search, which commenced following the abrupt departure of CEO Denise Morrison in May.

Third Point will also be permitted to present its board twice and will have a say in selecting a third new board member by Campbell’s May 2019 board meeting.

But Loeb also had to give up some ground. In addition to getting fewer board seats than he sought, Loeb agreed to a 12-month standstill agreement and will withdraw litigation against Campbell.

The settlement marks the end of a contentious proxy battle in which Loeb initially sought to replace the entire board and push for a full sale of the company.

In recent weeks, Loeb cut his slate to five from 12 in a bid to win support from proxy advisory services Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass Lewis. Loeb also started to focus more on revitalizing Campbell versus a full sale.

The Post exclusively reported in July that Loeb was building a stake in Campbell and later reported that Kraft Heinz took an initial look at Campbell but was not interested in buying the company.

Both Campbell and Third Point celebrated Monday’s settlement.

“We are pleased to have reached an agreement with Third Point that is in the best interests of Campbell shareholders,” said Keith McLoughlin, interim chief executive of Campbell.

“Third Point looks forward to working collaboratively with Campbell to improve value for all shareholders at this important time for the Company,” Loeb said.