Ancora complains NS is conducting a smear campaign

Ancora Holdings Group LLC, the activist investor that’s attempting a takeover of Norfolk Southern Corp. leadership, is accusing the Class I of conducting a "scorched earth campaign" against it.

In an open letter to NS Chairwoman Amy Miles, Ancora alleges that the company is “serving at the pleasure of CEO Alan Shaw — rather than the other way around."

Signed by Jim Chadwick on behalf of the investor group, the letter asks the NS board to explain why Shaw received a 37% increase in the value of his compensation in the same year as the NS train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio. It also asks the board to reflect on shareholder concern that the board is conducting a smear campaign against Ancora.

Last month, an Ancora-led investor group, which holds a large equity stake in NS, announced the nomination of eight independent candidates for election to the NS board. The group also announced two proposed new leaders at NS: former United Parcel Service Inc. executive Jim Barber Jr. as CEO and former CSX executive Jamie Boychuk as chief operating officer. Boychuk had experience implementing scheduled railroading practices at CSX.

The investor group has said that the Feb. 3, 2023, derailment in East Palestine was one of the motivations for its challenge to NS leadership.

NS leaders have urged shareholders to reject Ancora's nominees, proposed a board refresh and nominated two new candidates — former Amtrak and Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson and former U.S. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp — among its slate of 13 nominees for the 2024 annual shareholders meeting.

In a speech at the Southeast Association of Rail Shippers conference in Atlanta, Shaw defended NS's growth strategy and said if successful, the Ancora takeover effort would be a step backward for the rail industry, Trains magazine reported yesterday.