Chipotle names new directors, including Bill Ackman's nominees

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc , under pressure from activist investor Bill Ackman, appointed four more members to its board, including nominees from Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management.

Pershing Square partner Ali Namvar and former McDonald's Corp CFO Matthew Paull, who serves on the hedge fund's advisory board, join Paul Cappuccio and Robin Hickenlooper as directors of the burrito chain.

Chipotle has been struggling to recover from a series of food safety lapses that wrecked sales and damaged its reputation.

Cappuccio is executive vice president at Time Warner Inc and Hickenlooper is senior vice president of corporate development at media company Liberty Global Plc .

"We are pleased that Chipotle has taken the important step of refreshing its board," Ackman said in a statement.

The investor, who has a nearly 10 percent stake in Chipotle, had been seeking several board seats, Reuters reported last month.

The new appointments come a week after Chipotle said its founder, Steve Ells, would resume the position of sole CEO at the company after co-CEO Monty Moran stepped down.

The company's shares were up 2.2 percent at $390.89 in early trading on Friday.

(Reporting by Sruthi Ramakrishnan in Bengaluru; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty)