Tempur Sealy International’s shareholders voted to remove its chief executive and chairman from its board, agreeing with its largest shareholder H Partners Management that the mattress maker needed a change in leadership.
CEO Mark Sarvary, Chairman P. Andrews McLane and Nominating Committee Chairman Christopher Masto will tender their resignations as directors, Tempur Sealy said on Friday.
The board will decide whether or not to accept the resignations after the nominating and corporate governance committee assesses and makes its recommendation.
Sarvary continues to serve as the CEO, the company said.
Tempur Sealy’s shares, which were up about 1% before the news, rose as much as 4.6% in afternoon trading after H Partners provided preliminary results of the vote.
H Partners has a nearly 10% stake in Tempur Sealy.
The hedge fund, which launched a website “fixtempursealy.com” to campaign for the removal of the three executives, locked horns with Tempur Sealy first in February when it expressed dissatisfaction with the company’s performance.
The activist investor had said then that it was in advanced talks with potential CEO candidates.
Four independent proxy firms, including Institutional Shareholder Services and Glass, Lewis & Co, had recommended shareholders vote in favor of H Partners’ proposal.
The hedge fund’s success in having members removed from Tempur Sealy’s board follows activist investor Starboard Value LP’s ouster of Darden Restaurants Inc’s entire board in October.
The company did not disclose how many votes were cast in favor or against the three directors in question. All other board members were re-elected, Tempur Sealy said.
Tempur Sealy’s shares were up 3.7% at $62.30 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Up to Thursday’s close, the stock had risen about 29% in the past three years, while the S&P 500 Index had risen 53%. Rival Select Comfort had risen nearly 59% in the same period.