Happi Staff05.05.20
COVID-19 ultimately knocked out a severly weakened L Brands, which announced a mutual agreement with Sycamore Partners to terminate a previously announced transaction. Following the announcement, L Brands said it remains committed to establishing Bath & Body Works as a pure-play public company and is taking the necessary steps to prepare the Victoria’s Secret Lingerie, Victoria’s Secret Beauty and PINK businesses (collectively, Victoria’s Secret) to operate as a separate, standalone company.
In addition, the company’s previously announced changes to the board of directors and leadership will take effect at L Brands’ 2020 annual meeting to be held virtually later this month.
“Like all retailers, the company faces an extremely challenging business environment," explained Sarah Nash, current director and future chair of L Brands' board. "Our board believes that it is in the best interests of the company, our stockholders and our associates to focus our efforts entirely on navigating this environment to address those challenges and positioning our brands for success rather than engaging in costly and distracting litigation to force a partnership with Sycamore. We are implementing significant cost reduction actions and performance improvements at Victoria’s Secret while continuing to drive strong growth atBath & Body Works . We will continue to make decisions and take actions with the best interests of all our stakeholders and the future of our company in mind.”
As previously announced, leadership and governance changes will go into effect onMay 14, 2020 :
The board has appointedStuart Burgdoerfer , current chief financial officer of L Brands , as interim chief executive officer of Victoria’s Secret, effective immediately. Burgdoerfer will also continue to serve as CFO of L Brands and will have a dual reporting relationship to Nash as the incoming board chair and Meslow as the new CEO of L Brands .
In addition, the company’s previously announced changes to the board of directors and leadership will take effect at L Brands’ 2020 annual meeting to be held virtually later this month.
“Like all retailers, the company faces an extremely challenging business environment," explained Sarah Nash, current director and future chair of L Brands' board. "Our board believes that it is in the best interests of the company, our stockholders and our associates to focus our efforts entirely on navigating this environment to address those challenges and positioning our brands for success rather than engaging in costly and distracting litigation to force a partnership with Sycamore. We are implementing significant cost reduction actions and performance improvements at Victoria’s Secret while continuing to drive strong growth at
As previously announced, leadership and governance changes will go into effect on
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Leslie Wexner will step down as CEO and chairman. He will remain a member of the board as chairman emeritus; -
Andrew Meslow , CEO ofBath & Body Works , will become CEO ofL Brands and join the board; -
Sarah Nash will become chair of the board; and -
Allan Tessler , current lead independent director,Gordon Gee andRaymond Zimmerman will retire from the board.
The board has appointed