NEW YORK (AP) - Shares in the company that owns Victoria Secret and Bath & Body Works are surging after a hedge fund began pushing for a sale or the lingerie company, or the creation of a separate, publicly traded company for the latter.
Barington Capital Group laid out a number of recommendations Tuesday in a letter to L Brands CEO Leslie Wexner. The activist investor said L Brands, based in Columbus, Ohio, has underperformed its competitors for five years, with shares having lost nearly three-quarters of their value.
Barington says Victoria’s Secret has become outdated and failed to adapt to “women’s evolving attitudes towards beauty, diversity and inclusion.”
Bath & Body Works is a different story and talk of an initial public offering of shares pushed shares of L Brands up 3 percent, to $27.49. Shares were closer to $100 in late 2015.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.