Two analyst groups have come out in favor of Agrium Inc., in its battle with Jana Partner LLC. RBC Capital Markets on March 8 said there is nothing wrong with the status quo. It says splitting up the Agrium would be too risky.
Scotiabank said Jana’s credibility is dwindling and was troubled by Jana’s golden leash on its five nominees to the Agrium board of directors. It also gave Agrium’s management a favorable nod for its overall performance and was not impressed with the prospect for the company to split up.
In the meantime, Jana has named the five Agrium board members that it hopes to bump off the board. They include: Frank Proto, who has been on the board for 20 years; Dr. Susan Henry, who has the second longest tenure at 11 years; Derek Pannell with 5 years; Russell Horner, over 8 years; and the recently appointed Mayo Schmidt, who was the former CEO of Viterra Inc. Jana says Schmidt received C$30 million in Agrium’s pending acquisition of Viterra’s retail business.