Latest news with #NicolePortwood
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Engaged Capital pushes for board changes at Portillo's
Investment firm Engaged Capital plans to nominate two director candidates to the fast-casual restaurant chain Portillo's board for election at its 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. The nominees, Charlie Morrison and Nicole Portwood, have experience in restaurant operations and marketing, respectively. Morrison led Wingstop as president and CEO from 2012 to 2022 and served as CEO of Salad and Go from April 2022 to October 2024. Portwood, a branding expert, was chief marketing officer at Salad and Go from October 2023 to February 2025, leading initiatives to strengthen brand positioning and customer engagement. Engaged Capital, which holds 8.6% of Portillo's outstanding Class A common stock, submitted a letter to the company's board proposing the nominations to 'dramatically improve Portillo's ability to execute and close the gap with industry peers'. In a statement, Engaged criticised Portillo's performance, describing it as '...suffering due to outdated restaurant operations, ineffective marketing and lower than justified restaurant-level cash-on-cash returns. Although these issues have led to a depressed valuation for the company, they are all readily fixable.' To enhance profitability, the firm is calling for refinements in new unit development, modernisation of restaurant operations and technology, and targeted marketing investments to boost brand awareness and drive customer traffic. Portillo's acknowledged the receipt of Engaged Capital's nominations and defended its ongoing initiatives, stating: 'At the restaurant level, Portillo's is driving results through the launch of its Portillo's Perks loyalty programme, kiosks, operational enhancements and advertising beyond Chicagoland. The brand is also strategically expanding its restaurant count, leveraging the smaller Restaurant of the Future (ROTF) format and other potential upcoming formats to drive enhanced cash-on-cash returns. The restaurant company's board will formally present its recommendation regarding director nominations in its proxy materials, which will be filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission ahead of the 2025 annual meeting. Portillo's, known for its Chicago-style hot dogs, crinkle-cut fries and chocolate cakes, is valued at $1bn. In May 2023, the brand launched its latest menu item, the Rodeo Burger. "Engaged Capital pushes for board changes at Portillo's" was originally created and published by Verdict Food Service, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site.
Chicago Tribune
03-03-2025
- Business
- Chicago Tribune
Activist investor gets tough on Portillo's
Chicago's hometown hot dog giant Portillo's is in the midst of an ambitious national expansion, and now a proxy fight may be brewing in its boardroom. Activist investor Engaged Capital, which took a nearly 10% stake in the Oak Brook-based company last year, said Monday that it has nominated two independent candidates to the company's board. Engaged said it was 'forced' to resort to the public nominations of former Wingstop CEO Charlie Morrison and marketing executive Nicole Portwood after months of private discussions around adding Morrison to the board didn't go anywhere. 'We remain ready and willing to reach a constructive resolution that spares all stakeholders an election contest,' Engaged said in a news release Monday. Portillo's is in the midst of an ambitious national expansion plan, with a goal to grow its fleet of just under 100 restaurants by hundreds over the next two decades. The company, which has been opening restaurants in Texas, Arizona and elsewhere, hopes to transform itself from a mostly regional chain to a truly national one, betting that Italian beef sandwiches and Chicago-style hot dogs will have wide appeal outside the Midwest. But the company has struggled with its stock valuation, which despite an approximately 50% jump since the start of the year is still down more than 60% since it was taken public by Boston-based private equity firm Berkshire Partners in 2021. Representatives for Portillo's did not immediately return a request for comment Monday morning. Engaged has maintained it thinks the company can succeed, but only if it makes changes to how it does business. Engaged, which previously led an activist campaign at Shake Shack, has pushed Portillo's to open smaller stores, for instance. The activist, which called the company's marketing practices 'ineffective' in the Monday news release, thinks Portillo's needs to increase its brand awareness outside the Chicago area, perhaps by opening in high-visibility locations, such as airports, people familiar with the matter told the Tribune last year. Portillo's has previously shown willingness to listen to Engaged, which now owns about 8% of the company. Last month, Portillo's announced it was adding Chipotle executive Jack Hartung to its board after being introduced to him by Engaged. Still, Engaged said Monday that Portillo's still needs to 'refine its approach to new unit development, modernize restaurant operations and related technology, and deploy targeted marketing investments to increase awareness and drive traffic.' Portillo's revenue increased 4.5% in 2024, the company said in fourth-quarter earnings release last week. But that growth primarily came from new restaurant openings. Same-store sales declined 0.6% during the same period. When Engaged announced it had taken a stake in the company last summer, people familiar with the matter said conversations between the parties were constructive, and that a leadership change was not on the table. For the time being, Engaged is not focused on making management changes at Portillo's, people familiar with the matter said. Portillo's, which was founded in a Villa Park parking lot in 1963, was family-owned until it was acquired by Berkshire about a decade ago.
