The folks at Starboard Value may not have the household name of loudmouth activist investors like Carl Icahn and Third Point’s Dan Loeb. But those occupying the executive suites of the companies Starboard has targeted know these guys mean business.

The latest example is Wausau Paper, known for its specialty paper, towel, tissue, soap and dispensing products. The company recently agreed to nominate two directors with expertise in the tissue and paper industry recommended by Starboard. Wausau also agreed to create a committee made up of the two Starboard nominees and any other two board members that would advise the board on operations, investments and capital spending.

Wausau had known for some time that the hedge fund, which now owns 9.7 percent of the shares, was unhappy with the way the company was being run. Last October Starboard expressed its concern with the company’s plan to take on debt to expand its tissue operation, calling on the company to finance the expansion by divesting certain noncore assets, including what Starboard deemed to be the underperforming paper business, timberlands and hydroelectric assets. This would allow Wausau to “unlock significant unrealized value for shareholders, remove the drain of the losses in the paper business and at the same time significantly reduce risk by allowing the issuer to finance the tissue expansion project without taking on additional debt,” Starboard stated in a letter to management at the time.....

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