Ahead Of The Bell: Pershing-Target

ANNE D'INNOCENZIO

NEW YORK (AP) — Activist shareholder William Ackman holds a meeting Monday to personally introduce his slate of five nominees for Target's board as part of his campaign to strengthen his case for a change in the board.

Ackman — who runs hedge fund Pershing Square Capital Management, which owns a 7.8 percent stake in the discounter — said he intends to "improve Target's board and consequently, help make Target a stronger, more profitable and more valuable company," according to documents filed Friday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In the filing, Ackman outlined his reasons for why investors should pick his nominees and offered comparisons to Target's incumbent nominees.

"We believe that the deficit of relevant experience and the lack of significant shareholder representation on Target's board has contributed to the company's material underperformance during this recession," Ackman said.

Since March, Ackman has been pressing his case in a series of regulatory filings to nominate a slate of five candidates — including himself — to Target's board. That number includes the seat left vacant by the departure of Robert J. Ulrich, former chairman and chief executive, who resigned from the board on Jan. 31.