Investors Seek to Unseat Dillard’s Family

Little Rock, Ark. The Associated Press (AP) reported Friday that a group of Dillard’s Inc. investors has petitioned the retailer’s board of directors with a request that the Dillard family relinquish control of its shares.

A letter from the Barington Capital Group and the Clinton Capital Group, which together own 5.67% of Dillard’s class A stock, asked that independent directors be appointed to determine a premium price for the Dillard’s Class B shares, which are controlled by the Dillard family.

Under the current ownership, the shares owned by the Dillard family allow them to control eight of the company’s 12 board positions.

According to the AP report, the investors stated in their letter, “It is clear to us that the company and its public shareholders are being penalized because of its A/B-share class structure.” The letter recommended that the company should repurchase the Class B shares and adopt a “one-share, one-vote” structure, which would unseat the Dillard family’s ability to elect the majority of the board.