Dallas hotel owner Ashford Hospitality under pressure to overhaul board from activist investor Cygnus
Cygnus, which owns 2.8% of Ashford’s common stock, excoriated the company for its alleged mistreatment of stockholders.
Ashford Hospitality Trust owns 103 properties, including the W and Ritz-Carlton in Atlanta.(Ashford Hospitality)
atop a real estate investment trust led by Dallas hotelier Monty Bennett.
Cygnus, in a letter Tuesday to shareholders of Ashford Hospitality Trust, said it is backing a slate of five “highly qualified” candidates for seats on the trust’s executive board. Cygnus alleged the company’s eight-member board has been structured in a way that allows Bennett, the company’s founder and chairman, and his allies “to prioritize their interests above all else.”