Land & Buildings Investment Management LLC nominated a director candidate for election to Taubman Centers Inc.'s board at the company's 2018 annual meeting.
The activist shareholder, which described the candidate as "highly qualified" in a release, did not disclose any other details about the potential new board member.
In the same release, Land & Buildings said it will also present a nonbinding business proposal for an advisory vote at the meeting that would eliminate the regional mall real estate investment trust's dual-class voting stock structure.
Under the proposal, shareholders would exchange up to 8 million shares of the company's common stock for all the outstanding shares of Taubman's series B convertible preferred stock, which is almost entirely owned by the members of the Taubman family, according to the release.
"In our view, the Taubman family's ownership of approximately 30% of the voting power of the company's outstanding shares of common stock and series B preferred stock currently disenfranchises other shareholders," Land & Buildings said in the release. "We believe an offer for the Taubman family's shares of series B preferred stock is necessary to provide all shareholders a meaningful role in the election of directors and a true mechanism to make their voices heard."
In Nov. 2017, Taubman announced company board and bylaw changes as Land & Buildings accused the company's board of furthering management's interests at the expense of shareholders.
At publication time, executives from Taubman were unavailable to comment on the board nomination and proposal.
