Swatch has navigated the headwinds in the watches market but an activist investor wants a seat on the board.
getty
Swatch Group has escalated a long-running standoff with activist investor Steven Wood, urging shareholders to reject his bid to join the board at the company’s AGM in May.
The move underscores a governance dispute at one of Switzerland’s most storied watchmakers, after Wood, the founder of Greenwood Investors, has spent the past two years pressing for reform at Swatch.
He argues that the company’s structure, dominated by the founding Hayek family, has constrained shareholder influence and weighed on performance. His latest push is to secure a seat as the representative of ‘bearer shareholders’, a role he says would allow him to advocate more effectively for minority investors.
Swatch, however, has made clear it has no intention of accommodating him. In its AGM agenda published April 2, the company described Wood as “not suitable” for the role, pointing out that only around 4% of the holdings in his fund, GreenWood Builders Fund IV, consist of bearer shares. Instead, the board has proposed that Andreas Rickenbacher continue in the position.
The rejection marks the latest chapter in an increasingly acrimonious battle. Last year, Swatch blocked Wood’s attempt to join the board, citing what it described as “important reasons,” including his U.S. citizenship. Wood responded by calling the decision unlawful and filing a lawsuit against the company.
In its latest filing, Swatch did little to soften its stance. The company described Wood’s allegations as “baseless and damaging” and emphasized that it would not collaborate with an individual who had initiated legal action against it. Swatch also reiterated concerns about reputational risk tied to Wood’s position on the board of Leonardo, which it said could conflict with Swatch’s corporate values.
“It is important to the group that its board members are Swiss citizens or have their primary residence in Switzerland,” the company said in a statement, reinforcing a philosophy that has long been a hallmark of the Hayek family’s stewardship.
That traces back to the industry’s modern revival. Swatch, founded in its current form in the early 1980s, emerged from the merger of two struggling Swiss watch conglomerates at a time when the sector was under threat from inexpensive quartz watches produced in Asia.
Under the leadership of the late Nicolas Hayek, the company not only stabilized but reinvented Swiss watchmaking with bold designs and brand storytelling.
Today, Swatch Group controls a vast portfolio spanning entry-level plastic watches to some of the most prestigious timepiece names including Omega, Longines, Breguet and Tissot. The group also produces key components, giving it a vertically integrated structure that few competitors can match.
Yet that scale and legacy have not insulated it from recent headwinds. The Swiss watch industry has entered a more volatile phase and the war in the Middle East, alongside ongoing trade tensions and U.S. tariff uncertainty, have disrupted key markets. At the same time, a prolonged slowdown in China, once the engine of luxury growth, has weighed heavily on demand.
The company recently reported declining sales in several key regions, with Greater China in particular proving a drag on overall performance. Operating margins have come under strain as the group balances inventory levels with softer demand.
Bright colors have made the Swatch range distinctive but the group owns a number of brands.
getty
Although Swatch has maintained a relatively strong balance sheet, its shares have underperformed some peers, fueling investor frustration and lending momentum to Wood’s campaign. That said, its stock price is still up over 40% in the last 12 months and increased 6% following its rebuttal of Wood’s proposals.
Wood’s argument is that these dynamics make governance reform more urgent and he has called for greater transparency, a more independent board and reassessment of capital allocation priorities, including dividends and share buybacks.
Swatch, for its part, has consistently defended its model. The company argues that its long-term orientation, anchored by stable family ownership, has been a key factor in its long-term success. It points to decades of innovation and brand-building as evidence that its framework works.
As the May 12 AGM approaches, the outcome of this dispute will be closely watched, not only by Swatch investors but by the wider luxury sector. A victory for Wood, however unlikely, would mark a significant shift in the balance of power at one of Switzerland’s flagship companies.
Conversely, a decisive rejection would reinforce the resilience of the Hayek family’s control of Swtahc Group and perhaps signal the limits of activist influence in Europe’s more traditional corporate landscapes.
此内容由惯性聚合(RSS阅读器)自动聚合整理，仅供阅读参考。 原文来自 — 版权归原作者所有。