Brink’s CEO retiring amid board shakeup

Activist investment fund Starboard Value LP has shaken up the leadership of another publicly traded Virginia company.

The Brink’s Co., a major secure transportation and cash management services company based in Richmond, said Monday that it has reached an agreement with New York-based Starboard under which three new directors have been added to the Brink’s board and two current directors have retired.

Brink’s also said that Thomas C. Schievelbein, Brink’s chairman, president and CEO, will retire. The departure will take place by the time the company holds its 2016 annual shareholders meeting but could occur earlier if a successor is named before then.

Starboard effectively owns about 12.3 percent of Brink’s outstanding common stock. It sent a letter to Brink's top executives and board in October outlining what it called a history of poor company performance and missed execution.

The moves at Brink’s recall a similar leadership shakeup at Roanoke-based Advance Auto Parts, which announced an agreement with Starboard in mid-November.

That deal also resulted in changes in the board of directors, and Advance CEO Darren Jackson announced his retirement the same day. George Sherman, the company’s president, became interim CEO in January after Jackson’s departure.

Before November’s announcement, Starboard, which owned 3.7 percent of Advance Auto shares, had said the company was underperforming and outlined steps to boost its stock price.

Starboard describes itself as a firm that “invests in deeply undervalued companies and actively engages with management teams and boards of directors to identify and execute on opportunities to unlock value for the benefit of all shareholders.”

Under the terms of its agreement with Starboard, Ian D. Clough, George I. Stoeckert and Peter A. Feld were named to The Brinks’ board, effective immediately. Board members Murray D. Martin and Ronald L. Turner retired.

Feld has been a managing member and the head of research of Starboard since 2011.

Ian Clough has been managing director of International Europe at TNT Express N.V. (a Netherlands-based international courier delivery services company) since April 2014 and serves as a member of the company’s management board.

Stoeckert has been a private investor and adviser since 2011 and previously was president of North America and Internet Solutions at Dun & Bradstreet from 2009 to 2011.