NEW YORK — Bannus B. Hudson, president and chief executive officer of U.S. Shoe Corp., Friday called a proposal to split the conglomerate into three separate entities a “distraction to the current turnaround activity that’s going on, particularly in our women’s specialty retail and footwear divisions.” In December, several shareholders filed a proposal with the company that it be broken into the women’s retail group, footwear and Lenscrafter optical units.
Shareholders Alfred and Sondra Markim, in conjunction with Greenway Partners LP and Alfred Kingsley, who runs Greenway, submitted the proposal and called for a vote at the annual meeting on May 26 in Cincinnati, U.S. Shoe’s base.
It is an advisory proposal, which means that even if it is accepted at the May meeting, it would not force a breakup. It would still need to be ratified by two-thirds of the shareholders at a meeting next year.
The board will recommend to shareholders at the meeting that it not be broken up. Hudson said he did not anticipate the proposal being accepted.
Kingsley could not be reached for comment.