Chipotle, the Mexican fast food chain in a long slog out of last year's E. coli outbreak, has engaged Joele Frank, Wilkinson Brimmer Katcher as the company eyes a new potential threat: activist investor Bill Ackman.
Ackman's Pershing Square Capital Management took a 9.9% stake in Chipotle in September, making the hedge fund the company's No. 2 shareholder as its share price remains depressed.
Bloomberg reported Chipotle last week posted its tenth straight month of more than 20-percent year-over-year sales declines.
Reuters said the company has tapped investment banking and legal help, as well, noting Chipotle and Pershing Square have met at least once amid other talks.
The Joele Frank firm has years of experience in public tussles with Ackman, including his ongoing, high-profile showdown with Herbalife.
Burson-Marsteller picked up consumer PR duties for Chipotle in March.
Edelman handles Viking Holdings, the river and ocean luxury cruise line that plans to raise $1B via an IPO priced in the $21 to $25 per share range.
Teneo is handling the initial public offering of CVC Capital Partners, one of Europe’s largest private equity firms with nearly $200B in assets under management.
Brunswick Group represents Endeavor Group Holdings as it agrees to go private via its acquisition by Silver Lake technology investment firm, which is handled by Edelman Smithfield.
Tod Donhauser, a nine-year veteran of Edelman, has joined H/Advisors Abernathy as managing director and head of its San Francisco office.
Intelligent Group Ltd, a Hong Kong-based financial PR firm, has priced its initial public offering of 1.9M shares at $4, which is the low end of the $4 to $5 range.
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