Whitbread CEO’s Answer to Activist Investor: Plan Is Working, We Don’t Need to Sell

Whitbread used its first-quarter results Thursday to argue that its strategy is working, pushing back against an activist investor trying to force a sale of the Premier Inn owner.

Corvex Management, the U.S. hedge fund that holds about 7% of Whitbread, wants the company to launch a formal sale process.

Short of that, it has pushed Whitbread to halt growth spending outside its restaurant-to-rooms conversion program and return the cash to shareholders. It has threatened to nominate its own directors if the board refuses.

Asked about that pressure on an earnings call on Thursday, CEO Dominic Paul defended the spending, mu