Bed Bath & Beyond Adds Three New Board Members in Deal with RC Ventures

Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. and activist investor Ryan Cohen appear to have put their differences aside.

The home furnishings retailer added Marjorie L. Bowen, Shelly C. Lombard and Ben Rosenzweig to its board of directors as part of a cooperation agreement with Cohen and his company RC Ventures, according to a Friday (March 25) company press release.

The trio will serve as independent directors and will be up for election at the company’s 2022 annual shareholders meeting later this year, when the board will return to 11 members from its 14 with the addition of three new members, the announcement said.

Bowen and Rosenzweig will join a four-member strategy committee that’s focused on alternatives to maximize the company’s buybuy BABY brand. They will be joined by Bed Bath & Beyond Independent Director Sue Gove and Independent Director Andrea Weiss, founding partner of the O Alliance, LLC, and CEO of Retail Consulting, Inc., on the panel.

Cohen has been pushing Bed Bath & Beyond to consider a sale. RC Ventures owns 9.5% of the company, making it one of the top five shareholders. Earlier this week, Cohen, who is also GameStop’s chairman, bought 100,000 shares of that company.

Read more: GameStop Chairman Ryan Cohen’s Tweet Sends Stock Surging

“We are pleased to have reached this constructive agreement with RC Ventures, which we believe to be in the best interest of all our shareholders,” said Harriet Edelman, independent chair of the board, in the company press release. “Over the past two years, our board has transformed the company’s governance, management team, compensation policies and oversight of strategy and operations.

“Under this board’s leadership, the company has implemented consequential changes to our business, including the divestiture of multiple non-core assets and a significant increase in investments in structurally critical enablers of our business. The board is highly committed to fundamentally reshaping Bed Bath & Beyond for our customers while driving growth and profitability across its banners. We look forward to benefitting from the contributions and perspectives of our new directors,” she said.

Related: Bed Bath & Beyond Soars as Activist Investor Ryan Cohen Pivots From GameStop to Housewares

In a letter to the company earlier this month, Cohen said buybuy BABY could be worth several billion dollars, adding that the entire company could be better off if it were owned by a private equity firm.

The letter also says Bed Bath & Beyond executives received “outsized” compensation compared to the company’s actual performance.