Monday, June 15, 2009

PHH Will Need a New Chairman

Pennant Capital Management LLC has won a proxy contest over representation on the board of PHH Corp., a company with what would seem two very different types of operation: its a vehicle fleet management company as well as an originator of residential mortgages.

The contest came to a head Wednesday, at PHH's annual shareholder meeting.

PHH and Pennant jointly announced the results Friday. There were only three seats up for a vote, given the classified nature of the board, and Pennant only contested two of those three. So it now has two seats witin a seven seat board.

At first blush, one might not see that as too dramatic a turnover. But the two board members it displaces are: A.B. Krongard, the Chairman, and Terence W. Edwards, the CEO.

The loss of his board seat won't affect Edwards' position as CEO. The loss of a board seat on the other hand, does mean that Krongard can't continue as chairman, so someone new will have to be chosen.

Congratulations to the new board members, Allan Loren and Greg Parseghian. Loren is a former chairman of Dun & Bradstreet. Parseghian is former chief investment officer of Freddie Mac.

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