Investment company H Partner urges Harley-Davidson shareholders to remove three directors, including the CEO, from the board, and is responsible for the company’s sales and decline in stock prices.
H Partner, the second-largest investor in the iconic American brand with a 9.1% stake, made the latest move after urging CEO Joshen Gitz to get on the sidelines soon.
Zeitz, who became CEO in 2020, is expected to retire this year, but says he will stay until a replacement is found.
Harley, now valued at $2.7 billion, has fallen 43% since April 2022 as its stock price has fallen 45% over the past year, and has since April 2022, as the company has struggled to appeal to a new generation of riders.
The investment company intends to run a withholding campaign to push out Zeitz, who was director for 18 years, Norman Thomas Linebarger, who was director for 18 years, and Zeitz, who was board member for 29 years, Sara Levinson, who was a board member for 29 years, according to a letter released Tuesday.
“We believe Zeitz, LineBarger and Levinson should be responsible for the destruction of shareholder value,” Partner H said in a statement.
Harley did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the Reuters letter.
Partner H did not propose alternative candidates for the letter.
H Partner Jared Dourdeville resigned from Harley’s board last week and said he had experienced “cultural depletion” due to the resignation of senior leaders and their remote work policies.
The Harley board is made up of eight members and the company is scheduled to hold its annual general meeting on May 14th.
Five years ago, at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, Harley faced a boardroom challenge from another investment company, Impala Asset Management, but quickly resolved that fight amid the uncertainty of the health crisis.
