GameStop Corp (NYSE:GME) stock rose Friday as a prominent investor group announced it intends to nominate board members at the company’s annual shareholder meeting.
Hestia Capital Partners LP and Permit Capital Enterprise Fund own a combined 1.3% stake in the video game retailer.
On Thursday, the companies announced that Hestia would be nominating four candidates for election to the board of directors at the 2019 meeting of shareholders in response to “ongoing value destruction” and what it feels is a lack of engagement on the part of GameStop.
The shares edged up slightly to $10.23 in midday trade.
READ: Videogame retailer GameStop edges up after naming George Sherman CEO
"Our hope had been to work constructively with the Company," Hestia Managing Member and CIO Kurt Wolf said. "We are surprised and disappointed that during this process the Board hasn't given us more than 30 minutes to talk with two Board Members."
The firm is considering running three of its four nominees, which include Kurt Wolf; Don Bell, former CEO of magicJack VocalTec; Chris Carvalho, former CEO of Kabam; and Liz Dunn, founder and CEO of Pro4ma Inc.
The shareholder meeting has yet to be scheduled.
GameStop, for its part, offered to nominate one of the proposed candidates along with an additional independent director. Hestia, an investor in the Grapevine, Texas company since 2012, rejected that proposal.
On Wednesday GameStop announced several partnerships with esports companies including Complexity Gaming. The two companies plan to build an esports facility in Frisco, Texas.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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