Starboard Value plans majority overhaul of Tripadvisor board, WSJ reports

Feb 16 (Reuters) – Activist investor Starboard Value plans to push for ‌a major overhaul of Tripadvisor’s board, and ‌is preparing to nominate a majority slate ​for the company’s eight-member board, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.

Starboard now holds more than 9% of the ‌travel-site operator and ⁠intends to send a letter to the board on Tuesday ⁠outlining its plans, the WSJ said, citing people familiar with the matter.

Reuters ​could not ​immediately verify ​the report. Starboard ‌and Tripadvisor did not immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment.

The hedge fund has previously urged Tripadvisor to explore a sale of its restaurant booking ‌platform, TheFork.

Tripadvisor, which holds ​a market value of ​about $1.1 billion, ​has seen its shares ‌plunge nearly 46% over the ​past ​year, hitting a record low last Thursday after its fourth-quarter results missed ​Wall Street ‌expectations.

(Reporting by Rajveer Singh Pardesi ​in Bengaluru; Editing by Christopher Cushing ​and Sherry Jacob-Phillips)