Private investment firm Sun Capital Securities Group Inc. said Monday that a proxy advisory firm has recommended that Furniture Brands International Inc. shareholders vote in favor of its three director nominees.
"The presence (of) the three dissident nominees on the Furniture Brands board would likely prove beneficial to shareholder value," wrote RiskMetrics Group's ISS Governance Services in a report. "We believe the current board should bear at least some responsibility for the long-term underperformance of the company and could benefit from a fresh perspective and tighter management oversight."
Earlier this month, Sun Capital said an affiliate, SCSF Equities LLC, planned to nominate three candidates to the furniture maker's board.
The nominees are Yale Law School professor Alan Schwartz, 68; Ira Kaplan, 49, chief financial officer of Claire's Stores Inc., and T. Scott King, 56, managing director of Sun Capital.
Sun Capital owns about 9.5 percent of the St. Louis-based company's stock.
In February, Furniture Brands rejected a takeover offer from Sun Capital, and later disclosed that the firm had offered to pay between $13 and $15 per share.
A Furniture Brands representative was not immediately available for comment.
Furniture Brands' annual meeting is scheduled for May 1.
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