PG&E Corp. on Monday settled a dispute with an activist investor by restructuring its board to include another director with utility experience, and adding a safety specialist to advise its chief executive.
The company said former utilities executive Fred Buckman will replace former chairman Richard Kelly, who has resigned from the board. Chris Hart, former chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, will serve as a special adviser to incoming chief executive Bill Johnson.
The appointments end an activist campaign by BlueMountain Capital Management, which owns 2.5% of PG&E shares. The hedge fund last month nominated 13 candidates to PG&E’s board, including Hart and Buckman.
PG&E PCG, +1.90% earlier this month appointed its own slate of directors after working with three hedge funds that together own 10% of the company’s shares. They included former Federal Energy Regulatory Commissioner Nora Mead Brownell, who is now chairman of the board. It also appointed several restructuring experts and financiers.
An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.
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