The American asset management company Harris Associates is following in the footsteps of the activist fund Bluebell Capital to push the payments specialist Worldline, battered on the stock market, to “act faster” to review its governance, according to an interview on Tuesday.
“I think that Worldline is aware that changes must take place, but it must act more quickly,” David Herro, partner of Harris Associates, a subsidiary of Natixis Investment Managers (BPCE group) which claims to be the second largest shareholder of Worldline, told Le Monde. with 9.5% of the capital.
“The activist fund is right when it says that a sense of urgency is necessary,” he said, when asked about the approach of Bluebell Capital which is pressing Worldline to quickly appoint a new “independent” president of the board of directors. administration and to cut ties with the leaders of the former parent company Atos.
A loss of market confidence
“I’ve been doing this for over thirty years, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a stock price plummet by nearly 60% in one day. This shows a loss of market confidence,” asserted Mr. Herro, repeating almost word for word the analysis of the activist fund, in reference to the spectacular fall in the stock market on October 25 after a downward revision of Worldline’s annual objectives. .
When Bluebell Capital asks Worldline to first and foremost find a president to replace Bernard Bourigeaud – who died on December 14 – David Herro certainly considers this step essential, but for him it is “more important to find the right person than to rush”.
“A new president should be chosen in the second half of March,” Georges Pauget, a former Crédit Agricole and Crédit Lyonnais who became interim president of Worldline on December 15, told Le Monde.
Harris Associates, like Bluebell Capital, also wants to tighten Worldline’s board of directors, deemed “plethoric” by Mr. Herro.
As for the arrival of Crédit Agricole as a “long-term minority shareholder” of Worldline – with 7% of the capital – announced in January, the Harris Associates partner is scathing: “I dare to hope that it (the green bank ) made this investment because it believes it is a very undervalued business and not to protect a French company. »
“You cannot protect what is ineffective,” he asserts.
Harris Associates managed $104 billion in assets as of December 31, according to its website.