Tampa bottled water company hits back at activist investor’s criticism

In proxy materials filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission prior to its May 3 annual meeting, Primo Water Corp. (NYSE: PRMW), a publicly traded company headquartered in Tampa, has lashed out at Los Angeles-based Legion Partners Asset Management LLC, an investment firm that owns a small portion of Primo’s outstanding shares, in response to Legion’s criticism of Primo’s financial performance.

The materials include a letter to shareholders that encourages them to vote for Primo’s preferred candidates “who are standing for election to the board of directors.” The slate of 10 candidates does not include any of the names put forward by Legion in March.

“Our candidates for the board are experienced, dedicated and diverse,” the letter reads. “They have been founders, executives and board members at some of the largest and most respected beverage and route-based companies in the world, including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Enterprises, Anheuser-Busch, Aramark and Blue Rhino. They also bring important functional expertise in areas that are integral to our business such as executive leadership, operations, finance, digital marketing, capital markets and human resources.”