Under attack from a pair of New York hedge funds, JCPenney’s board is circling the wagons.
Directors at the Texas-based retailer held a tense conference call yesterday to discuss whether to consider investor Bill Ackman’s push to replace CEO Mike Ullman — and the answer appears to be “No.”
Enraged by a nasty letter to the board that Ackman made public last week, Penney directors led by Chairman Thomas Engibous have decided to dig in and defend Ullman, sources told The Post.
“They think Ackman is a cancer and they’d like to figure out how to remove him,” according to a source close to the boardroom brouhaha.
That’s despite the fact that Ackman, Penney’s biggest shareholder, last week added a pair of prominent allies in his battle to unseat Ullman as the retailer struggles to recover from a disastrous turnaround bid by former CEO Ron Johnson.
Hedge-fund billionaire Richard Perry disclosed a 7.3-percent Penney stake last week and said he backs Ackman’s push to name former Penney CEO Allen Questrom as the company’s new chairman, with Foot Locker chief Ken Hicks replacing Ullman.
Questrom, a legendary merchant who rehabilitated Penney in a five-year stint as its chief executive that ended in 2004, said he would consider becoming chairman and blasted Penney’s board for dithering in its search for a new CEO.
Hicks, who resigned as Penney’s president in 2009 after seven years at the company, didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Last week, Ackman demanded the board find a replacement for Ullman within 30 to 45 days, citing the company’s rapidly deteriorating finances.
The board responded that it “strongly disagreed” with Ackman’s letter, and said the Wall Street tycoon was being “counterproductive.”
The retailer recently hired executive-search firm Heidrick & Struggles to find a replacement. But according to sources, the firm’s search is expected to take several months.
In a pair of incendiary letters to the board last week, Ackman accused Ullman of downwardly revising Penney’s internal financial forecasts multiple times in recent months.