Blackwells Capital solicits support for its Disney board nominees

By Dawn Chmielewski

(Reuters) - Activist hedge fund Blackwells Capital solicited support for its three nominees to Walt Disney's board of directors in a preliminary proxy filing on Friday, saying each has skills and experiences that would enhance the board.

Blackwells also put forth a non-binding advisory resolution that, should any Disney candidate fail to win election to the board, Disney should expand the number of directors and appoint its nominees to fill the newly created vacancies.

Blackwells nominated Craig Hatkoff, a co-founder of the Tribeca Film Festival who also has a background in real estate, Jessica Schell, a former executive vice president of Warner Bros Home Entertainment who also worked at Universal Pictures, and Leah Solivan, founder and former CEO of TaskRabbit, an online marketplace for freelance labor.

"The professionals that Blackwells has nominated have extensive leadership experience in the entertainment, real estate, and technology industries, respectively," the fund said in its preliminary proxy filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. "If elected, the Blackwells nominees have the necessary background and expertise to support the board in the ongoing transformative restructuring of the company."

The filing comes the same week that Disney made the case for rejecting nominees put forth by activist shareholders in its preliminary proxy, and Trian Fund made its case for its two nominees, arguing that it was time for "meaningful change" on the Disney board.

(Reporting by Dawn Chmielewski in Los Angeles; Editing by Bill Berkrot)

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