Medifast Inc. will complete its board overhaul by nominating as directors a former Avon executive and the president of alternative medicine supplement company Healthy Directions.
The moves come to satisfy activist investor Glenn Welling, who pushed Owings Mills-based weight-loss company Medifast (NYSE: MED) at the beginning of April to revamp its board. Welling owns 6% of Medifast through his California-based company, Engaged Capital LLC, and used his influence to shrink the company’s board of directors to nine people while removing eight existing directors.
In April, Welling and Medifast agreed to keep four directors and add three new directors. But they still had to agree on two more new directors. Those directors will be Scott Schlackman and Connie Hallquist, the company said Thursday.
Schlackman has experience in the direct-selling industry that makes up much of Medifast’s business. He held several executive roles for
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Medifast Profits Fall 45%, Overhauls Board
by Ramya Chandrasekaran • • 0 Comments
Weight-loss company Medifast Inc. announced Monday that it would overhaul its board of directors under pressure from an activist investment firm, removing eight directors and adding five.
Medifast, is seeking to break into international markets and expand its national reach as it copes with growing competition from technology-driven diet programs on smartphones and other gadgets. CEO Michael MacDonald, who will continue as chairman, said the new board would help the company reach those goals.
The board members who are being replaced “were good board members but didn’t have the national experience or exposure that these guys were looking for,” MacDonald said. “What we’re doing now is putting in what we feel will be people who have very good skill sets to take us to that next level.”
MacDonald said he began talking last year with