The Morning Brief: Pershing Square in a Deal with Chipotle

Chipotle Mexican Grill agreed to name four new members to its board of directors as part of a compromise agreement with Pershing Square Capital Management. They include Ali Namvar, a partner at the activist hedge fund firm headed by Bill Ackman. The appointments are effective immediately, and the new directors will serve through the casual dining chain’s 2017 annual meeting. Under the deal, Pershing Square agreed to a number of provisions through at least the period just prior to the 2019 annual meeting.

“We are pleased that Chipotle has taken the important step of refreshing its Board which will position the company for continued growth and long-term success,” said Ackman in a press release. Shares of Chipotle Friday jumped 2.50 percent, to close at $391.86.

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Marathon Petroleum announced that it has extended the deadline for submitting director nominations to January 9, 2017. A month ago, Elliott Management Corp. disclosed it owned 4 percent of the oil refiner and marketer and suggested the company undertake a major restructuring, including spinning off several of its businesses. At the time, the company said in a statement: “We agree with Elliott Management that there is upside to our valuation, which we are addressing with the value-creating actions we announced last month, but we disagree with their letter and presentation.”

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Atlantic Investment Management cut its stake in Triumph Group to 4.98 percent. This means it no longer needs to file updated regulatory notices when it sells additional shares in the supplier of aerospace components and systems.

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Shares of controversial hedge fund favorite Valeant Pharmaceuticals International rebounded by 3.75 percent, to close at $14.11.

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