Simply weeks after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn secured two seats on the board of American Electrical Energy Co., the utility fired its chief govt officer whose tenure lasted lower than 14 months.
Julie Sloat, who turned CEO in January 2023, will likely be changed on an interim foundation by Benjamin G.S. Fowke III, a member of the corporate’s board and the previous chairman and CEO of Xcel Vitality Inc., AEP mentioned Monday. Sloat was among the many few girls on the head of a significant US utility.
AEP in its assertion mentioned it was time to determine a brand new individual to guide its subsequent chapter and that the board would conduct an exterior seek for a everlasting CEO.
“It appears to be like just like the board was impatient for adjustments,” mentioned Paul Patterson, a utility analyst for Glenrock Associates LLC. “They wished a change and that is a part of it.” He added that it wasn’t clear to him why the board removed Sloat, who in his eyes hadn’t made any main missteps.
AEP shares have been up virtually 3% in after-hours buying and selling in New York. The corporate additionally reported earnings Monday after the market closed, with income that trailed analyst estimates. The corporate will maintain a name with analysts on Tuesday to debate the quarterly outcomes.
The CEO transfer comes after AEP mentioned this month that Hunter Gary, an Icahn Enterprises senior managing director, and Henry Linginfelter, a former govt at Southern Firm Fuel, will be part of the board.
Some analysts had introduced up the potential for management change when Icahn’s involvement in AEP first got here to mild.
“We count on Icahn to search for methods to generate a number of accretion, spanning partial asset gross sales, potential administration adjustments, to even perhaps a sale of the corporate in its entirety,” analysts at Guggenheim Securities wrote in a analysis word on Feb. 13.
In response to a query about whether or not the CEO change was associated to the Icahn settlement on the board, AEP mentioned: “The complete board made the dedication that now’s the best time to determine a brand new CEO to guide the corporate.”
Icahn’s involvement with AEP is his most up-to-date foray into American utilities. He has additionally been concerned with FirstEnergy Corp., which was embroiled in a federal corruption case involving nuclear subsidies. Southwest Fuel Holdings Inc. agreed in 2022 to promote a pipeline enterprise for $1.5 billion together with debt and spin off its development enterprise within the wake of a bitter battle with Icahn.
Ohio-headquartered AEP has about 5.6 million clients in 11 states. The corporate had confronted regulator pushback throughout Sloat’s time within the prime position, together with the rejection of a $1.5 billion sale of its Kentucky operations and a rejection in Texas of its plan to spend $2.2 billion on inexperienced power property.
