Roy Disney fund: seeks changes at Panera Bread

Burbank / CA. (wib) California-based Shamrock Holdings Inc., partially controlled by family members of entertainment pioneer Walt Disney, issued a list of recommendations to Panera Bread Co. after it bought a 5,46 percent ownership stake in the company, according to a regulatory filing by Shamrock. The Shamrock Activist Value Fund L.P. bought 1.686.400 shares December 06 valued at nearly 72,7 million USD.

Among its suggestions, the company recommends Panera Bread improve the disclosure of its compensation plan to provide increased transparency and that it separate the roles of chairman and chief executive. According to the filing, Shamrock has requested that Panera Bread declassify its staggered board; expand the board of directors to add new members, including those with relevant operating experience; and convert the outstanding shares of the multiple vote Class B common stock into Class A common shares so that all shares of common stock have the same voting rights.

California-based Shamrock Activist Value Fund invests in publicly traded small- and micro-cap companies in the United States. St. Louis-based Panera Bread Company owns and franchises 1.137 bakery-cafes as of November 27 under the St. Louis Bread Co. and Panera Bread names.