(Bloomberg) -- Northgate Plc's new chairman plans to start a strategic review at the U.K. van rental firm, following pressure from an activist investor.
“I will institute a strategic review of the company which will take a hard look at the business,” non-executive chairman Avril Palmer-Baunack said in a statement Monday in response to Bloomberg queries.
Northgate said earlier in the day it appointed Palmer-Baunack, 55, to the position effective immediately. She is also executive chairman of BCA Marketplace Plc, the online used-car seller being acquired by TDR Capital. Palmer-Baunack previously helped lead a turnaround at accident management company Redde Plc and was chief executive officer of Universal Salvage Plc until the company was sold in 2007.
“I won't comment on any potential disposals, acquisitions or restructurings, but this will be a business that will go forward under my chairmanship,” she said. Shares of Northgate were up 1.8% at 8:45 a.m. Tuesday in London, giving the company a market value of 446 million pounds ($538 million).
Crystal Amber Fund Ltd., the U.K. activist investor run by Richard Bernstein, said it welcomes Palmer-Baunack's appointment. The investment firm, which owns about 7% of Northgate, called for a shareholder meeting earlier this year to oust the previous chairman in a move that led to his eventual resignation.
“The board has listened to its owners and brought in someone who has not only extensive experience in the automotive industry, but more importantly, an impressive track record of not being afraid to make business decisions and to deliver for shareholders,” Bernstein said in a statement.
Crystal Amber has been pushing Northgate to sell its Spanish operations. The business could be worth about 400 million pounds, Bernstein said in a phone interview Monday.
To contact the reporter on this story: David Hellier in London at dhellier@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Aaron Kirchfeld at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net, Frank Connelly, Ben Scent
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