Carl Icahn, a billionaire investor drops a proxy fight at Kroger Co KR.N. Icahn is still pouring his focus on the treatment of pregnant pigs at Kroger Co KR.N. Previously, Kroger Co KR.N had lost a similar battle with McDonald’s Corp MCD.N a few weeks ago. Icahn said that he sincerely congratulated the McDonald team on the victory of this proxy engagement. He expects that a similar outcome should happen at Kroger too.
In March, Carl Icahn, the activist investor, nominated two directors to the supermarket chain’s board. He also wrote a letter to its boss pointing out Kroger’s policy flaw concerning animal welfare. Ichan also concerns about the firm’s wage disparities. The activist investor owning $50.000 worth of McDonald’s stock also nominated two director candidates.
This is to push the fast-food chain to create a good decade-old promise to quit buying pork from suppliers that house the animals in crates. Icahn strongly argues that it is too inhumane to put pigs in crates especially during pregnancy. Plus, many platforms have used this practice broadly. Previously, the boardroom fight ended with the re-election of McDonald’s directors.
However, Icahn argues that this fight would be different from his typical fights, especially since both are performing well financially. It seems like the campaign needs less support from adequate shareholders. A Kroger spokesperson in this stance argued that the firm would continue to engage with stakeholders and shareholders. The firm wants to make sure its position as well as achieve their goals. The spokesperson delivered this response via email. Meanwhile, the representatives of Icahn do not respond to the request outside business hours.