Simply weeks after billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn secured two seats on the board of American Electric Power Co., the utility fired its chief government officer whose tenure lasted lower than 14 months.
Julie Sloat, who became CEO in January 2023, shall 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 Energy Inc., AEP stated Monday. Sloat was among the many few ladies on the head of a serious US utility.
AEP in its assertion stated it was time to determine a brand new particular person to steer its subsequent chapter and that the board would conduct an exterior seek for a everlasting CEO.
“It looks like the board was impatient for changes,” stated Paul Patterson, a utility analyst for Glenrock Associates LLC. “They wanted a change and this is 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 nearly 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 stated this month that Hunter Gary, an Icahn Enterprises senior managing director, and Henry Linginfelter, a former government at Southern Firm Fuel, will be a part of the board.
Some analysts had introduced up the potential of management change when Icahn’s involvement in AEP first got here to gentle.
“We expect Icahn to look for ways to generate multiple accretion, spanning partial asset sales, potential management changes, to perhaps even a sale of the company 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 stated: “The full board made the determination that now is the right time to identify a new CEO to lead the company.”
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 Gas Holdings Inc. agreed in 2022 to promote a pipeline enterprise for $1.5 billion together with debt and spin off its building 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 high function, 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.
