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ValueAct Urges External Search for New Hawaiian Electric CEO

  • Activist calls for change in corporate culture at utility
  • Hedge fund concerned company won’t meet renewable targets
Photographer: Waldo Swiegers/Bloomberg
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Activist investor ValueAct Capital Management is urging Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. to look outside of the company for a successor to Chief Executive Officer Constance Lau to help the utility accelerate its renewable energy goals.

The San Francisco-based hedge fund said in a letter to Hawaiian stakeholders that it believes the company has started its succession planning for Lau and is in need of a corporate cultural shift.