VNTR - Venator Materials gains as investor pushes for board change

Venator Materials ( NYSE: VNTR ) rose 10% in premarket trading after an investor unveiled a letter pushing for board changes at the chemical company.

J&T, which has a 14.3% stake and says it's the company's second-largest holder, sent a letter the Venator's board and outlined its concerns about the board's unwillingness to "meaningfully engage" with J&T and the stock's underperformance, according to a statement. J&T is pushing for one of its executives and another independent board member it plans to nominate to be added to Venator's board.

"We are writing to express our serious concerns about the direction the Company has taken under the watch of the current Board of Directors (the “Board”), and to reiterate our belief that additional independent shareholder representation is urgently needed in the boardroom," Martin Sey?ek, member of the supervisory board of J&T wrote in the letter.

J&T, which first reached out to Venator in May, highlighted in its letter that Venator's ( VNTR ) share price has plunged 96% since the company's IPO in August 2017. J&T alleges that the current Venator board is "dominated" by affiliates of SK Capital Partners and Huntsman Corp. ( HUN ).

Venator ( VNTR ) didn't immediately respond to Seeking Alpha email request for comment.

Venator ( VNTR ) reported Q3 results in November.

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