JANA, ex-Bulgari CEO strike deal for board seats at Tiffany

Retailer Tiffany & Co on Tuesday said it would appoint three independent directors to its board in a deal with hedge fund JANA Partners LLC, less than three weeks after the luxury jeweler's chief executive stepped down.

As part of the deal, one of the seats will go to Francesco Trapani, the ex-CEO of luxury retailer Bulgari. Tiffany will also add Roger Farah, a former co-chief executive of handbag maker Tory Burch, and James Lillie, a former CEO of Jarden Corp, to its board.

Tiffany's board will increase to 13 seats from ten.

On Feb. 5, the company's chief executive stepped down after reporting lower-than-forecast results. Its chairman and previous CEO, Michael Kowalski, stepped in as interim chief executive while the company searched for someone to fill the role.

The company said in January that its sales during the November-December holiday period were "somewhat lower" than it had expected, hurt by lower consumer spending and a drop in sales at its flagship store in New York.

Tuesday's announcement said JANA and Trapani own 5.1 percent of the company. JANA owns the majority of that position, a person familiar with the matter said.

The deadline for Tiffany shareholders to nominate directors for its board at the annual meeting is Feb. 25.