Activist investor Oasis takes a seat on Premier Foods board

Premier Foods, the maker of Mr Kipling cakes, has granted a Hong Kong-based activist a board seat after Oasis Management steadily built a stake following last year's thwarted takeover attempt. 

The British food company has been under pressure after rejecting an approach from US spice maker McCormick last year and failing to live up to revised sales growth projections.

Oasis, which was started by Seth Fisher and has around $1bn (£807m) of assets under management, is now Premier Foods' second largest shareholder after it began ramping up its share purchases following a major profit warning last month.

Premier Foods, which is also behind Bisto gravy and Oxo stock cubes, said that Daniel Wosner, head of Europe at Oasis and a former Barclays and Lehman Brothers investment banker, would take a seat on the board. 

The two sides have agreed that Mr Wosner will be appointed to the remuneration committee, meaning the investor will have a direct say on the pay package for chief executive Gavin Darby.

Oasis also has committed to buy around 10pc of Premier Foods' shares by June 30, 2018. It has agreed to own a minimum 7pc stake and a maximum 15pc in the company. 

Oasis's current stake is understood to be around 8.2pc. 

The activist firm is an investor in Japan's Nintendo and had been campaigning to persuade the console maker to drop its resistance to mobile gaming, paving the way to the successful launch of its Pokemon Go smartphone game.

Premier Foods said that the relationship agreement with Oasis and Mr Wosner's tenure as a non-executive director would continue until the day after the company's shareholder meeting in 2019, unless otherwise extended. 

"We appreciate the constructive engagement that we have had with Premier Foods chairman David Beever and the executive leadership team, and I welcome the opportunity to join the board," said Mr Wosner.

"I look forward to working with chief executive officer Gavin Darby, and his colleagues to achieve the full potential and value from the company’s outstanding brand portfolio," he added. 

Mr Beever, who is due to retire this year, said that Premier Foods "looked forward to working with him to drive the company's long-term value and enhance value for all shareholders".

"Daniel’s perspective and experience will be a valuable addition to the team as we continue our effort to maximise the potential of our category-leading brands, strong customer partnerships and supply chain expertise,” said Mr Beever.

 Premier Foods shares were up by 0.79p, or 2pc, to 40.29p in mid-morning trading.