Home improvement retailer Lowe’s (Mooresville, N.C.) has appointed two new board members after talks with D.E. Shaw & Co. (New York), the hedge fund investment management firm that recently built a $1 billion stake in the company, reports CNBC.
Lisa Wardell, ceo of Adtalem Global Education (Downers Grove, Ill.), and David Batchelder, co-founder of Relational Investors (San Diego), were appointed to the board following strategic discussions with the investor. D.E. Shaw approached the company about changing its board, looking to close the gap in revenue-per-store, margin and valuation compared to its main competitor, The Home Depot (Atlanta), CNBC reports.
The investor built an activist stake last week amid concerns over its recent performance, but it is not pushing for a merger with another home improvement retailer at this point.