GlaxoSmithKline PLC (LSE:GSK) CEO Emma Walmsley has a second activist to deal with on the company's shareholder register after Bluebell Capital Partners took a small stake in the pharma group and is demanding change.
Bluebell, flushed with recent success from its campaign at French food giant Danone (OTCQX:DANOY), has written to GSK chairman Jonathan Symonds to demand Walmsley reapply for her job.
The activist fund's chief investment officers, Marco Taricco and Giuseppe Bivona, pushed for the FTSE 100 company to launch a “thorough and robust process” to find a boss for its drug and vaccine arm before it spins off of its consumer health division next year, according to a report in the FT.
READ: GSK needs to review top management, activist Elliott Management says
Bluebell is not necessarily calling for her head, they stressed in the letter, but said that reapplying successfully would give her “renewed credibility both internally and externally”.
This follows a similar push from activist hedge fund Elliott Management, which has taken a major stake in GSK and called for several changes, including a “fit-for-purpose” board and “the best possible leadership". Like Bluebell, Elliot Management says it is “not advocating a specific outcome but [...] arguing for a robust process”.
Although the language is similar, Bluebell, which manages around £100mln compared to Elliott's US$48bn, told the FT it was not working in synch with Elliott.