(Bloomberg) -- PG&E Corp., which filed for bankruptcy last month, announced a boardroom shakeup that would bring back at most half of the current board members.
No more than five of the utility owner's 10 current board members will stand for re-election at its upcoming shareholders meeting, according to a statement Monday. The company wants mostly independent directors, and the new board will have 11 of them, it said.
“We fully understand that PG&E must re-earn trust and credibility with its customers, regulators, the communities it serves and all of its stakeholders,” according to the statement.
PG&E has faced pressure from lawmakers, regulators and shareholders to revamp its management after 2017 and 2018 fires exposed it to liabilities that could exceed $30 billion and pushed the company into bankruptcy last month. Hedge fund BlueMountain Capital Management LLC has said that it will seek to replace PG&E's entire board while calling the company's decision to restructure a “reckless” move that will harm shareholders.
An outside spokeswoman for BlueMountain declined to comment.
PG&E removed Chief Executive Officer Geisha Williams shortly before the bankruptcy and also announced the resignation of board member Roger H. Kimmel last month. The next shareholders' meeting is scheduled for May 21.
Shares of San Francisco-based PG&E rose 2.8 percent to $14.59 at 2:11 p.m. in New York. Earlier, they touched $14.64.
--With assistance from Allison McNeely.
To contact the reporter on this story: Mark Chediak in San Francisco at mchediak@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Lynn Doan at ldoan6@bloomberg.net, Margot Habiby, Joe Ryan
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