Canadian Pacific President and Chief Executive Officer Fred Green has resigned, effective immediately, the company announced this morning. He also has resigned as a board director and will not stand for re-election at the company’s shareholder meeting later this morning. Green has served the Class I for 34 years.
In addition, Board Chairman John Cleghorn, as well as directors Tim Faithfull, Edmond Harris, Michael Phelps and Roger Phillips, have advised CP they do not plan to stand for re-election. The decision was made “after taking into account the views expressed by shareholders about the desire for board change,” according to a press release.
At today’s shareholders meeting, Pershing Square Capital Management L.P. — which late last year acquired a 14.2 percent stake in CP — is expected to nominate seven board directors. After that, there will be only 16 remaining candidates for the 16 available positions on the board. As a result, CP expects the board to be comprised of the following people: William Ackman, Gary Colter, Richard George, Paul Haggis, Paul Hilal, Krystyna Hoeg, Tony Ingram, Richard Kelly, Rebecca MacDonald, The Hon. John Manley, Anthony Melman, Linda Morgan, Madeleine Paquin, David Raisbeck, Hartley Richardson and Stephen Tobias.
Since purchasing 20.6 million in CP shares in October 2011, Pershing Square has been pushing for a top management change and new board members at the Class I to hasten financial and operational improvements. The company has proposed installing former CN President and CEO E. Hunter Harrison in CP’s top post to drive changes.
Source: Progressive Railroading Daily News
