Chipotle Shares Rise After Company Shakes Up Board, Ackman Approves

Chipotle Mexican Grill Inc. shares are up 1.5% in Friday premarket trading after the company named four new board members, effective Dec. 14, 2016. The directors are: Paul Cappuccio, general counsel of Time Warner since 2001; Robin Hickenlooper, senior vice president of corporate development at Liberty Global; Ali Namvar, a partner at Pershing Square Capital Management; and Matthew Paull, former chief financial officer at McDonald's Corp. . "We are pleased that Chipotle has taken the important step of refreshing its board which will position the company for continued growth and long-term success," said Pershing Square CEO William Ackman in a statement. Pershing Square and Chipotle had discussed changes to the board, according to a November report in The Wall Street Journal, after Pershing Square revealed a 9.9% stake in the fast-casual company. Chipotle and Pershing Square also agreed to other provisions at least until prior to the 2019 annual shareholders meeting, Friday's announcement said. The new directors will serve an initial term through the 2017 annual shareholders meeting. The board has 12 members. Chipotle shares are down 32.7% for the past year while the S&P 500 index is up 9.1% for the same period.